Definition
nounAction given to provide assistance; aid.
nounSomething or someone which provides assistance with a task.
Sentence Examples
Sometimes I can't help showing emotions.
There's quite a lot of things to do; do you want some help?
Thank you for all your help.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English help, from Old English help (“help, aid, assistance, relief”), from Proto-Germanic *helpō (“help”), *hilpiz, *hulpiz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb-, *ḱelp- (“to help”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälpe (“help”), West Frisian help (“help”), Cimbrian hölfe (“help”), Dutch hulp (“help”), German Hilfe (“help, aid, assistance”), Luxembourgish Hëllef (“help”), Mòcheno hilf (“help”), Vilamovian hyłf (“help”), Yiddish הילף (hilf, “help”), Danish hjælp (“help”), Faroese and Icelandic hjálp (“help”), Norwegian Bokmål hjelp (“help”), Norwegian Nynorsk hjelp, hjølp (“help”), Swedish hjälp (“help”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In 1979 the Church published a Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Version of the Bible in English. Included in this edition were numerous helps to make a study of the scriptures more meaningful and rewarding."
— c. 2002, “Scripture Study Helps”, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
"Risk is everywhere.[…]For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles”[…]aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks."
— 2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76:
"As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
"Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism."
— 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3: