See Also:

help(2) (iou)



help verb. .
[Old English helpan = Old Frisian helpa, Old Saxon helpan (Dutch helpen), Old High German helfan (German helfen), Old Norse hjalpa, Gothic hilpan, from Germanic.]
verb trans. & intrans. Provide (a person etc.) with what is needed for a purpose; aid, assist. Also, supply the needs of, succour. Freq. in imper., expr. a need for assistance. OE.
God help me, God help you, Heaven help you, etc., interjection expr. pity, anxiety, etc. so help me (God) (in an invocation or oath) as I keep my word, as I speak the truth, etc. (cf. SWELP ME).
G. Greene He felt as though he were in a strange country without any maps to help him. Day Lewis Help! I've a bee in my hair!
b. With inf., with or without direct obj.: give help or assistance to do etc. or to do etc. ME.
Pope He help'd to bury whom he help'd to starve. Punch Sir Kingsley Wood..asked the House for 1,000,000,000 to help pay for the..war. T. F. Powys Someone had..appeared to help Lord Bullman to open the gate. R. Ingalls Help me look for that one.
verb trans. Benefit, do good to; be of use or service to; profit. OE.
J. Wesley Mustard, and Juice of Scurvy Grass, help in a cold Scurvy.
b. verb intrans. Be of use or service; avail. OE.
T. Morrison She actually wanted to help, to soothe.
c. verb trans. Make (an action, process, etc.) more effective; assist in achieving; promote, further. LME.
J. R. Green The troubles of the time helped here as elsewhere the progress of the town.
verb trans. Relieve or cure (a disease etc.); remedy, amend. Long arch. OE.
b. Succour in distress or misfortune; deliver, save (from, of); spec. cure of a disease. ME.
verb refl. Make an effort on one's own behalf; do what is needed for oneself; extricate oneself from a difficulty. ME.
F. W. Robinson I don't think that I shall require your assistance, or that I shall be unable to help myself.
verb trans. Assist (a person etc.) to progress in a specified direction. ME.
help out, help through spec. assist in completing or enduring something, or out of a difficulty; supplement, eke out.
A. Higgins Leaning out the conductor helped her down, his hand at her elbow. J. Steinbeck He helped Curley out the door.
b. Foll. by with: assist (a person) to put, take, or get something (esp. an article of clothing) on, off, etc. ME.
c. Give assistance in dealing with. E19.
help the police in their enquiries, help the police with their enquiries be questioned (usu. as the chief suspect for a crime) by the police.
A. D. Sedgwick If he sat there..not helping with the water-cans,..it was because he..wanted to watch her.
verb trans. Avoid, obviate, prevent, remedy; cause to be otherwise; refrain from, forbear. LME.
J. Barzun A man cannot help being intelligent, but he can easily help becoming intellectual.
b. With neg. omitted after a neg. expressed or implied. Be unavoidable. colloq. M19.
C. H. Spurgeon I did not trouble myself more than I could help.
verb trans. Foll. by to: assist (a person) in obtaining, provide or present with; refl. (also absol. without to) provide oneself (with), take for oneself, euphem. take without permission, steal. Cf. sense 8. LME.
verb trans. Serve (a person) with food etc. (foll. by to); serve (food etc.). L17.
G. Greene I helped him to a glass of rum and awaited an explanation. refl.: I. Murdoch Cheese and biscuits are on the table, so do help yourselves if you want any.
Comb.: helping hand fig. an act of assistance; help-yourself adjective self-service.
helpable adjective able to be helped L16.
helper noun (a) a person who or thing which helps; (b) a person employed as an assistant; spec. a groom's assistant in a stable; colloq. an assistant minister (in Methodist and Scottish churches); (c)
helper cell (Physiology) a T-lymphocyte that influences or controls the differentiation or activity of other cells of the immune system: ME.
helping noun (a) the action of the verb; (b) spec. the action of serving food etc.; a portion of food, esp. as served at one time (cf. HELP noun 4): ME.