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HELP
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
Example:
offered his help in unloading
Synonyms:
aid; assist; assistance; help
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("help" is a kind of...):
activity (any specific behavior)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "help"):
support (aiding the cause or policy or interests of)
comfort (assistance, such as that provided to an enemy or to a known criminal)
boost; encouragement (the act of giving hope or support to someone)
accommodation (the act of providing something (lodging or seat or food) to meet a need)
service (an act of help or assistance)
lift (the act of giving temporary assistance)
ministration; relief; succor; succour (assistance in time of difficulty)
thanks (with the help of or owing to)
recourse; refuge; resort (act of turning to for assistance)
hand; helping hand (physical assistance)
facilitation (act of assisting or making easier the progress or improvement of something)
self-help (the act of helping or improving yourself without relying on anyone else)
Derivation:
help (improve the condition of)
help (improve; change for the better)
help (give help or assistance; be of service)
help (contribute to the furtherance of)
help (be of use)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A means of serving
Example:
there's no help for it
Synonyms:
avail; help; service
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("help" is a kind of...):
helpfulness (the property of providing useful assistance)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A person or thing that is a resource that helps make something easier or possible to do
Example:
his job was to give technical assistance over the phone
Synonyms:
aid; assistance; help
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("help" is a kind of...):
resource (a source of aid or support that may be drawn upon when needed)
Derivation:
help (improve the condition of)
help (improve; change for the better)
help (give help or assistance; be of service)
help (contribute to the furtherance of)
help (be of use)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
Example:
they hired additional help to finish the work
Synonyms:
assistant; help; helper; supporter
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("help" is a kind of...):
worker (a person who works at a specific occupation)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "help"):
birthing coach; doula; labor coach; monitrice (an assistant (often the father of the soon-to-be-born child) who provides support for a woman in labor by encouraging her to use techniques learned in childbirth-preparation classes)
underboss (an assistant or second-in-command to a chief (especially in a crime syndicate))
fashion model; manakin; manikin; mannequin; mannikin; model (a woman who wears clothes to display fashions)
model; poser (a person who poses for a photographer or painter or sculptor)
paraprofessional (a trained worker who is not a member of a profession but who assists a professional)
powder monkey (someone who carries explosives (as from the magazine to the guns on board a warship))
prompter; theater prompter (someone who assists a performer by providing the next words of a forgotten speech)
chief assistant; man Friday; right-hand man (the most helpful assistant)
secretarial assistant; secretary (an assistant who handles correspondence and clerical work for a boss or an organization)
sidesman ((Church of England) an assistant to the churchwarden; collects offerings of money in the church)
foot soldier; subordinate; subsidiary; underling (an assistant subject to the authority or control of another)
water boy; waterer (an assistant who supplies drinking water)
whipper-in (huntsman's assistant in managing the hounds)
coadjutor (an assistant to a bishop)
accomplice; confederate (a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan))
aide; auxiliary (someone who acts as assistant)
attendant; attender; tender (someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another)
bat boy ((baseball) a boy who takes care of bats and other baseball equipment)
dental assistant (an assistant to a dentist)
deputy; lieutenant (an assistant with power to act when his superior is absent)
actor's assistant; dresser (a wardrobe assistant for an actor)
event planner (someone who plans social events as a profession (usually for government or corporate officials))
facilitator (someone who makes progress easier)
flower girl (a young girl who carries flowers in a (wedding) procession)
girl Friday (a female assistant who has a range of duties)
enforcer; hatchet man (one whose job it is to execute unpleasant tasks for a superior)
cat's-paw; instrument; pawn (a person used by another to gain an end)
Derivation:
help (give help or assistance; be of service)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they help ... he / she / it helps
Past simple: helped
Past participle: helped
-ing form: helping
Sense 1
Meaning:
Improve the condition of
Example:
These pills will help the patient
Synonyms:
aid; help
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Hypernyms (to "help" is one way to...):
ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "help"):
bring around; cure; heal (provide a cure for, make healthy again)
benefit; do good (be beneficial for)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Derivation:
help (the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)
help (a person or thing that is a resource that helps make something easier or possible to do)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Improve; change for the better
Example:
New slipcovers will help the old living room furniture
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "help" is one way to...):
ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Derivation:
help (a person or thing that is a resource that helps make something easier or possible to do)
help (the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Help to some food; help with food or drink
Example:
I served him three times, and after that he helped himself
Synonyms:
help; serve
Classified under:
Hypernyms (to "help" is one way to...):
cater; ply; provide; supply (give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance)
Verb group:
dish; dish out; dish up; serve; serve up (provide (usually but not necessarily food))
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Sentence example:
Sam cannot help Sue
Derivation:
helping (an individual quantity of food or drink taken as part of a meal)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Take or use
Example:
She helped herself to some of the office supplies
Synonyms:
avail; help
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Hypernyms (to "help" is one way to...):
exploit; work (use or manipulate to one's advantage)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sentence example:
They help themselves
Sense 5
Meaning:
Give help or assistance; be of service
Example:
She never helps around the house
Synonyms:
aid; assist; help
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "help" is one way to...):
back up; support (give moral or psychological support, aid, or courage to)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "help"):
bootstrap (help oneself, often through improvised means)
care; give care (provide care for)
avail (be of use to, be useful to)
expedite; hasten (speed up the progress of; facilitate)
succor; succour (help in a difficult situation)
subserve (be helpful or useful)
help out (be of help, as in a particular situation of need)
benefact (help as a benefactor)
assist; attend; attend to; serve; wait on (work for or be a servant to)
alleviate; ease; facilitate (make easier)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Sentence example:
They help him to write the letter
Derivation:
help (the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)
help (a person or thing that is a resource that helps make something easier or possible to do)
help (a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)
helper (a person who helps people or institutions (especially with financial help))
helper (a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Contribute to the furtherance of
Example:
This money will help the development of literacy in developing countries
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "help" is one way to...):
advance; boost; encourage; further; promote (contribute to the progress or growth of)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
help (the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)
help (a person or thing that is a resource that helps make something easier or possible to do)
helper (a person who helps people or institutions (especially with financial help))
helper (a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Abstain from doing; always used with a negative
Example:
She could not help watching the sad spectacle
Synonyms:
help; help oneself
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "help" is one way to...):
forbear; refrain (resist doing something)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s VERB-ing
Sense 8
Meaning:
Be of use
Example:
This will help to prevent accidents
Synonyms:
facilitate; help
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "help" is one way to...):
serve (contribute or conduce to)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
It ----s that CLAUSE
Something ----s INFINITIVE
Sentence example:
Sam cannot help Sue
Derivation:
help (the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)
help (a person or thing that is a resource that helps make something easier or possible to do)
Context examples:
I really couldn't help thinking, as I sat taking in all this, that the misfortune extended to some other members of that family besides Mrs. Gummidge.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
"But he mustn't lose any chance that might be of help to him," Judge Scott exclaimed.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Three men with clubs were helping him to scatter them.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
And always do I get up by myself, and help them up, and make the dogs go on.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
But perhaps we may find something here which may help us.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“Jim here,” said the doctor, “can help us more than anyone. The men are not shy with him, and Jim is a noticing lad.”
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
And indeed he does not want my help; you do not know him as I do; he is safe, he is quite safe; mark my words, he will never more be heard of.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
So they talked, these singular men, and I, looking from one to the other, could not imagine how they could help bursting out a-laughing in each other’s faces.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
God help me!—all that is worst in me seemed to come uppermost.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
In his trouble and fear he went down into the courtyard and took thought how to help himself out of his trouble.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
