To help out

To help out
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. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

The true calamus helps coughs. --Gerarde. [1913 Webster]

4. To change for the better; to remedy. [1913 Webster]

Cease to lament for what thou canst not help. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

5. To prevent; to hinder; as, the evil approaches, and who can help it? --Swift. [1913 Webster]

6. To forbear; to avoid. [1913 Webster]

I can not help remarking the resemblance betwixt him and our author. --Pope. [1913 Webster]

7. To wait upon, as the guests at table, by carving and passing food. [1913 Webster]

{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. [1913 Webster]

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]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • help out — help someone, lend a hand    The Wongs are good neighbors always willing to help out …   English idioms

  • help out — verb be of help, as in a particular situation of need (Freq. 1) Can you help out tonight with the dinner guests? • Hypernyms: ↑help, ↑assist, ↑aid • Verb Frames: Somebody s * * * …   Useful english dictionary

  • help out — phrasal verb [intransitive/transitive] Word forms help out : present tense I/you/we/they help out he/she/it helps out present participle helping out past tense helped out past participle helped out mainly spoken to help someone, especially by… …   English dictionary

  • help out — PHRASAL VERB If you help someone out, you help them by doing some work for them or by lending them some money. [V P with n] I help out with the secretarial work... [V n P] All these presents came to more money than I had, and my mother had to… …   English dictionary

  • To help out — Help Help, v. i. To lend aid or assistance; to contribute strength or means; to avail or be of use; to assist. [1913 Webster] A generous present helps to persuade, as well as an agreeable person. Garth. [1913 Webster] {To help out}, to lend aid;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • help out — {v.} 1. To be helpful or useful; help sometimes or somewhat. * /Mr. Smith helps out with the milking on the farm./ * /Tom helps out in the store after school./ 2. To help (someone) especially in a time of need; aid; assist. * /Jane is helping out …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • help out — {v.} 1. To be helpful or useful; help sometimes or somewhat. * /Mr. Smith helps out with the milking on the farm./ * /Tom helps out in the store after school./ 2. To help (someone) especially in a time of need; aid; assist. * /Jane is helping out …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • help\ out — v 1. To be helpful or useful; help sometimes or somewhat. Mr. Smith helps out with the milking on the farm. Tom helps out in the store after school. 2. To help (someone) especially in a time of need; aid; assist. Jane is helping out Mother by… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • help out — verb To provide additional assistance …   Wiktionary

  • help out — aid, assist; extricate, save …   English contemporary dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”