Word.ws English Dictionary

help

[hɛo̯p] ~ [hɛʊ̯p]/hɛlp/

help noun: action given to provide assistance; aid.

Noun (1)

help (usually uncountable, plural helps)

  1. (usually) Action given to provide assistance; aid.
    • I need some help with my homework.
    Synonyms:
    aid, assistance
  2. (usually) Something or someone which provides assistance with a task.
    • He was a great help to me when I was moving house.
  3. (usually) Documentation provided with computer software that could be accessed using the computer.
    • I can't find anything in the help about rotating an image.
  4. (countable, usually) A study aid.
    • I've printed out a list of math helps.
    • 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
  5. (usually) One or more people employed to help in the maintenance of a house or the operation of a farm or enterprise.
    • The help is coming round this morning to clean.
    • Most of the hired help is seasonal, for the harvest.
  6. (usually) Correction of deficits, as by psychological counseling or medication or social support or remedial training.
    • His suicide attempts were a cry for help.
    • He really needs help in handling customer complaints.

Verb

help (third-person singular simple present helps, present participle helping, simple past helped or (archaic) holp, past participle helped or (archaic) holp or (archaic) holpen)

  1. (transitive) To provide assistance to (someone or something).
    • He helped his grandfather cook breakfast.
    • 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
  2. (transitive) To assist (a person) in getting something, especially food or drink at table; used with to.
    • It is polite to help your guests to food before serving yourself.
    • Help yourself to whatever's in the fridge.
  3. (transitive) To contribute in some way to.
    • The white paint on the walls helps make the room look brighter.
    • If you want to get a job, it helps to have some prior experience.
    Synonyms:
    contribute to
  4. (intransitive) To provide assistance.
    • She was struggling with the groceries, so I offered to help.
    • Please, help!
    Synonyms:
    assist
  5. (transitive) To avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain (oneself). Usually used in nonassertive contexts with can.
    • We couldn’t help noticing that you were late.
    • We couldn’t help but notice that you were late.
  6. (Hong-Kong, Singapore) To do something on the behalf of someone.
    • Can you help me buy some groceries?
  7. (Singapore, Singlish, imperative) To assist or sympathize with (the speaker); used to express displeasure, disappointment or exasperation.
    • Compare Malay tolong (“help; please”) and Hokkien 導郎 /导郎 (tō͘-lông, “help; please”)
    • Help lah.

Interjection

help!

  1. A cry of distress or an urgent request for assistance.
    • — Take that, you scoundrel.
      — Help! Robin, help!
  2. (Internet) A way to signal uncontrollable laughter; implying the risk of dying of laughter and needing assistance.
    • helpppp that's too funny, did she rlly say that?

Noun (2) capitalized: HELP

HELP (uncountable)

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of heat escape lessening position: a crouching position with the knees held close to the chest, used to conserve body heat in cold water.

help meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

help in Hindi

action given to provide assistance
मदद madad, सहायता sahāytā, उपकार upkār
person or persons who provides assistance with some task
सहायक sahāyak
transitive: provide assistance to (someone or something)
मदद करना madad karnā

help in Tamil

action given to provide assistance
உதவி utavi
transitive: provide assistance to (someone or something)
உதவு utavu

help in Marathi

transitive: provide assistance to (someone or something)
मदत करणे madat karṇe

help in Urdu

action given to provide assistance
مَدَد madad, کُمَک kumak, اِمْداد imdād, مُساعِدَت musā'idat
person or persons who provides assistance with some task
مَدَدْگار madadgār
transitive: provide assistance to (someone or something)
مدد کرنا madad karnā
More languagesFewer languages
help in Bengali
সাহায্য śahajjo, মদদ modod, সহায়ক śohaẏok, সাহায্য করা śahajjo kora
help in Telugu
సహాయము sahāyamu, సాయము sāyamu, సహాయపడు sahāyapaḍu, సాయం చేయు sāyaṁ cēyu
help in Malayalam
സഹായം sahāyaṁ, സഹായി sahāyi
help in Kannada
ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡಿ, ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡು, ಸಹಾಯ
help in Punjabi
ਮਦਦ ਕਰੋ, ਸਹਾਇਤਾ ਕਰੋ
help in Gujarati
મદદ કરો, મદદરૂપ થાઓ, સહાય કરો
help in Odia
ସହାୟତା sahāyatā
help in Sanskrit
अवति ávati
help in Sinhala
උදව් කරනවා udaw karanawā
help in Assamese
সহায় xohay
help in Nepali
सहयोग sahayog, मदत् madat, मदत गर्नु madat garnu
help in Tagalog
tulong, tumulong, tulungan, saklolo
help in Arabic
مُسَاعَدَة musāʕada, مَعُونَة maʕūna, مَدَد madad, إِمْدَاد ʔimdād
help in Malay
pertolongan, bantuan, tolong, bantu
help in Indonesian
bantuan, pertolongan, pembantu, membantu
help in Persian
کمک کردن komak kardan, یاری کردن yâri kardan
help in Thai
ความช่วยเหลือ kwaam-chûai-lʉ̌ʉa, ช่วยเหลือ chûai-lʉ̌ʉa, ช่วย chûai, ช่วยด้วย chûai-dûai
help in Vietnamese
giúp, giúp đỡ, trợ giúp, hỗ trợ
help in Myanmar
အကူ a.ku, ကူ ku, ကူညီ ku-nyi, ကယ်ပါ kaipa

Examples of help in a sentence

  • “He’s a real road-rager.” / “Yup, he really needs help, maybe anger management.”
  • I've already taken three pills, but they don't seem to help my headache.
  • She’s trying not to smile, but she can’t help herself.
  • Can I help it if I'm so beautiful?
  • Can I help it that I fell in love with you?
  • Are they going to beat us? Not if I can help it!

All 40 example sentences with help

Synonyms of help

12 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of help

Forms of help

Noun
pluralhelps
alternative formhe'p
Verb
third-person singular presenthelps
present participlehelping
pasthelped
past participlehelped
past (archaic)holp
past participle (archaic)holp
past participle (archaic)holpen
second-person singular present (archaic)helpest
second-person singular past (archaic)helpedst
third-person singular present (archaic)helpeth

Past tense of help: helped

Plural of help: helps

Origin of help

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”).

From Middle English helpen, from Old English helpan (“to help, aid, assist, benefit, relieve, cure”), from Proto-West Germanic *helpan, Proto-Germanic *helpaną (“to help”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb-, *ḱelp- (“to help”). Cognate with North Frisian halep, heelpe, help (“to help”), Saterland Frisian hälpe (“to help”), West Frisian helpe (“to help”), Cimbrian hölfan (“to help”), Dutch helpen (“to help”), German helfen (“to help”), Low German helpen, hölpen, hülpen (“to help”), Luxembourgish hëllefen (“to help”), Yiddish העלפֿן (helfn, “to help”), Danish hjælpe (“to help”), Faroese and Icelandic hjálpa (“to help”), Norwegian Bokmål hjelpe (“to help”), Norwegian Nynorsk hjelpa, hjelpe (“to help”), Swedish hjälpa (“to help”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐍀𐌰𐌽 (hilpan, “to help”), Lithuanian šelpti (“to help, support”).

Words formed from help

Phrases with help

22 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with help

Questions about help

What does help mean?
Help means action given to provide assistance; aid.
What is help in Hindi?
Help in Hindi is मदद (madad), सहायता (sahāytā), उपकार (upkār). See Help meaning in Hindi.
How do you use help in a sentence?
“He’s a real road-rager.” / “Yup, he really needs help, maybe anger management.”
What part of speech is help?
Help can be a noun, a verb or an interjection.
How do you pronounce help?
Help is pronounced /hɛlp/ (UK).
What is the plural of help?
The plural of help is helps.

Words near help in the dictionary

  1. helotism
  2. helotisms
  3. helotries
  4. helotry
  5. helots
  6. help
  7. help a lame dog over a stile
  8. help along
  9. help desk
  10. help desks
  11. help is on the way

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: help (page history and authors); HELP (page history and authors); help (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); help (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); help (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-help.wav, en-us-help.ogg.

Cite this entry: “help.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/help. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.