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2 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 : [ gcide ]
Help \Help\ (h[e^]lp), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Helped (h[e^]lpt)
(Obs. imp. Holp (h[=o]lp), p. p. Holpen (h[=o]l"p'n)); p.
pr. & vb. n. Helping.] [AS. helpan; akin to OS. helpan, D.
helpen, G. helfen, OHG. helfan, Icel. hj[=a]lpa, Sw. hjelpa,
Dan. hielpe, Goth. hilpan; cf. Lith. szelpti, and Skr. klp to
be fitting.]
1. To furnish with strength or means for the successful
performance of any action or the attainment of any object;
to aid; to assist; as, to help a man in his work; to help
one to remember; -- the following infinitive is commonly
used without to; as, ``Help me scale yon balcony.''
--Longfellow.
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2. To furnish with the means of deliverance from trouble; as,
to help one in distress; to help one out of prison. ``God
help, poor souls, how idly do they talk!'' --Shak.
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3. To furnish with relief, as in pain or disease; to be of
avail against; -- sometimes with of before a word
designating the pain or disease, and sometimes having such
a word for the direct object. ``To help him of his
blindness.'' --Shak.
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The true calamus helps coughs. --Gerarde.
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4. To change for the better; to remedy.
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Cease to lament for what thou canst not help.
--Shak.
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5. To prevent; to hinder; as, the evil approaches, and who
can help it? --Swift.
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6. To forbear; to avoid.
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I can not help remarking the resemblance betwixt him
and our author. --Pope.
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7. To wait upon, as the guests at table, by carving and
passing food.
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To help forward, to assist in advancing.
To help off, to help to go or pass away, as time; to assist
in removing. --Locke.
To help on, to forward; to promote by aid.
To help out, to aid, as in delivering from a difficulty, or
to aid in completing a design or task.
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The god of learning and of light
Would want a god himself to help him out. --Swift.
To help over, to enable to surmount; as, to help one over
an obstacle.
To help to, to supply with; to furnish with; as, to help
one to soup.
To help up, to help (one) to get up; to assist in rising,
as after a fall, and the like. ``A man is well holp up
that trusts to you.'' --Shak.
Syn: To aid; assist; succor; relieve; serve; support;
sustain; befriend.
Usage: To Help, Aid, Assist. These words all agree in
the idea of affording relief or support to a person
under difficulties. Help turns attention especially to
the source of relief. If I fall into a pit, I call for
help; and he who helps me out does it by an act of his
own. Aid turns attention to the other side, and
supposes co["o]peration on the part of him who is
relieved; as, he aided me in getting out of the pit; I
got out by the aid of a ladder which he brought.
Assist has a primary reference to relief afforded by a
person who ``stands by'' in order to relieve. It
denotes both help and aid. Thus, we say of a person
who is weak, I assisted him upstairs, or, he mounted
the stairs by my assistance. When help is used as a
noun, it points less distinctively and exclusively to
the source of relief, or, in other words, agrees more
closely with aid. Thus we say, I got out of a pit by
the help of my friend.
[1913 Webster]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) : [ web1913 ]
7. To wait upon, as the guests at table, by carving and
passing food.
To help forward, to assist in advancing.
To help off, to help to go or pass away, as time; to assist
in removing. --Locke.
To help on, to forward; to promote by aid.
To help out, to aid, as in delivering from a difficulty, or
to aid in completing a design or task.
The god of learning and of light Would want a god
himself to help him out. --Swift.
To help over, to enable to surmount; as, to help one over
an obstacle.
To help to, to supply with; to furnish with; as, to help
one to soup.
To help up, to help (one) to get up; to assist in rising,
as after a fall, and the like. ``A man is well holp up
that trusts to you.'' --Shak.
Syn: To aid; assist; succor; relieve; serve; support;
sustain; befriend.
Usage: To Help, Aid, Assist. These words all agree in
the idea of affording relief or support to a person
under difficulties. Help turns attention especially to
the source of relief. If I fall into a pit, I call for
help; and he who helps me out does it by an act of his
own. Aid turns attention to the other side, and
supposes co["o]peration on the part of him who is
relieved; as, he aided me in getting out of the pit; I
got out by the aid of a ladder which he brought.
Assist has a primary reference to relief afforded by a
person who ``stands by'' in order to relieve. It
denotes both help and aid. Thus, we say of a person
who is weak, I assisted him upstairs, or, he mounted
the stairs by my assistance. When help is used as a
noun, it points less distinctively and exclusively to
the source of relief, or, in other words, agrees more
closely with aid. Thus we say, I got out of a pit by
the help of my friend.
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