helping

[ hel-ping ]

/ ˈhɛl pɪŋ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR helping ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act of a person or thing that helps.

a portion of food served to a person at one time: That's his third helping of ice cream.

adjective

giving aid, assistance, support, or the like.

Origin of helping

Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at help, -ing¹, -ing²

OTHER WORDS FROM helping

help·ing·ly, adverb un·help·ing, adjective

Words nearby helping

helper cell, helper t cell, helper t-cell, helper virus, helpful, helping, helping hand, helping verb, helpless, helpline, helpmann

Definition for helping (2 of 2)

help

[ help ]

/ hɛlp /

verb (used with object)

to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist: He planned to help me with my work. Let me help you with those packages.

to save; rescue; succor: Help me, I'm falling!

to make easier or less difficult; contribute to; facilitate: The exercise of restraint is certain to help the achievement of peace.

to be useful or profitable to: Her quick mind helped her career.

to refrain from; avoid (usually preceded by can or cannot): He can't help doing it.

to relieve or break the uniformity of: Small patches of bright color can help an otherwise dull interior.

to relieve (someone) in need, sickness, pain, or distress.

to remedy, stop, or prevent: Nothing will help my headache.

to serve food to at table (usually followed by to): Help her to salad.

to serve or wait on (a customer), as in a store.

verb (used without object)

to give aid; be of service or advantage: Every little bit helps.

noun

the act of helping; aid or assistance; relief or succor.

a person or thing that helps: She certainly is a help in an emergency.

a hired helper; employee.

a body of such helpers.

a domestic servant or a farm laborer.

means of remedying, stopping, or preventing: The thing is done, and there is no help for it now.

Older Use. helping(def 2).

interjection

(used as an exclamation to call for assistance or to attract attention.)

Verb Phrases

help out, to assist in an effort; be of aid to: Her relatives helped out when she became ill.

Origin of help

before 900; Middle English helpen, Old English helpan; cognate with German helfen

SYNONYMS FOR help

1 encourage, befriend; support, second, uphold, back, abet. Help, aid, assist, succor agree in the idea of furnishing another with something needed, especially when the need comes at a particular time. Help implies furnishing anything that furthers one's efforts or relieves one's wants or necessities. Aid and assist, somewhat more formal, imply especially a furthering or seconding of another's efforts. Aid implies a more active helping; assist implies less need and less help. To succor, still more formal and literary, is to give timely help and relief in difficulty or distress: Succor him in his hour of need.

3 further, promote, foster.

6 ameliorate.

7 alleviate, cure, heal.

12 support, backing.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR help ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR help

3, 11 hinder.

7 afflict.

13 hindrance.

SEE ANTONYMS FOR help ON THESAURUS.COM

usage note for help

21. Help but, in sentences like She's so clever you can't help but admire her, has been condemned by some as the ungrammatical version of cannot help admiring her, but the idiom is common in all kinds of speech and writing and can only be characterized as standard.

OTHER WORDS FROM help

help·a·ble, adjective un·der·help, noun un·help·a·ble, adjective un·helped, adjective

well-helped, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for helping

Stephanie Giorgio, a classical musician, credits The Class for helping her cope with anxiety, focus, fear, and self-doubt.

How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze |Lizzie Crocker |January 9, 2015 |DAILY BEAST
Congress loves to be Scroogey when it comes to helping the poor at Christmastime.

To GOP Congress, as Usual, It’s Welfare on the Chopping Block |Monica Potts |December 25, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Objectively, they are not just riding with the tide, but helping to guide its very direction.

Corporations Are No Longer Silent on LGBT Issues | |December 24, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Regardless of party, those who work in government do so because they care about helping their fellow citizens.

Can the U.S. Government Go Moneyball? |Peter Orszag, Jim Nussle |December 23, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

“She understands that she is part of this movement, and that she is helping to lead it,” said one organizer.

Why the Left Loves Warren, But Won’t Swoon for Sanders |David Freedlander |December 19, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
She was helping Chloe set the table, to that lady's intense delight at "Missy's" girlish housewifery.

A Protegee of Jack Hamlin's and Other Stories |Bret Harte
I have had a most interesting day; I spent part of the morning in the wards, helping with dressings.

My Diary in Serbia: April 1, 1915-Nov. 1, 1915 |Monica M. Stanley
Some states have the referendum and initiative power of helping to make laws.

Citizenship |Emma Guy Cromwell
They point out that we stopped them from helping us, and that, had we not done so, the Boers would have been easily put down.

South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 1 (of 6) |Louis Creswicke
I may mention finally the use of hypnotism for helping in a safe and quick confinement.

Psychotherapy |Hugo Mnsterberg

British Dictionary definitions for helping (1 of 2)

helping

/ (ˈhɛlpɪŋ) /

noun

a single portion of food taken at a meal

British Dictionary definitions for helping (2 of 2)

help

/ (hɛlp) /

verb

to assist or aid (someone to do something), esp by sharing the work, cost, or burden of something he helped his friend to escape; she helped him climb out of the boat

to alleviate the burden of (someone else) by giving assistance

(tr) to assist (a person) to go in a specified direction help the old lady up from the chair

to promote or contribute to to help the relief operations

to cause improvement in (a situation, person, etc) crying won't help

(tr; preceded by can, could, etc; usually used with a negative)

to avoid or refrain fromwe can't help wondering who he is
(usually foll by it) to prevent or be responsible forI can't help it if it rains

to alleviate (an illness, etc)

(tr) to serve (a customer) can I help you, madam?

(tr foll by to)

to serve (someone with food, etc) (usually in the phrase help oneself)may I help you to some more vegetables?; help yourself to peas
to provide (oneself with) without permissionhe's been helping himself to money out of the petty cash

cannot help but to be unable to do anything else except I cannot help but laugh

help a person off with to assist a person in the removal of (clothes)

help a person on with to assist a person in the putting on of (clothes)

so help me

on my honour
no matter whatso help me, I'll get revenge

noun

the act of helping, or being helped, or a person or thing that helps she's a great help

a helping

a person hired for a job; employee, esp a farm worker or domestic servant
(functioning as singular) several employees collectively

a means of remedy there's no help for it

interjection

used to ask for assistance

Derived forms of help

helpable, adjective helper, noun

Word Origin for help

Old English helpan; related to Old Norse hjalpa, Gothic hilpan, Old High German helfan

Idioms and Phrases with helping

help

In addition to the idioms beginning with help

helping hand
help oneself
help out

also see:

can't help but
every little bit helps
not if one can help it
so help me

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

helping

noun

adjective

Origin of helping

OTHER WORDS FROM helping

Words nearby helping

Definition for helping (2 of 2)

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

interjection

Verb Phrases

Origin of help

SYNONYMS FOR help

ANTONYMS FOR help

usage note for help

OTHER WORDS FROM help

Example sentences from the Web for helping

British Dictionary definitions for helping (1 of 2)

noun

British Dictionary definitions for helping (2 of 2)

verb

noun

interjection

Derived forms of help

Word Origin for help

Idioms and Phrases with helping

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

helping

noun

adjective

Origin of helping

OTHER WORDS FROM helping

Words nearby helping

Definition for helping (2 of 2)

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

interjection

Verb Phrases

Origin of help

SYNONYMS FOR help

ANTONYMS FOR help

usage note for help

OTHER WORDS FROM help

Words related to helping

Example sentences from the Web for helping

British Dictionary definitions for helping (1 of 2)

noun

British Dictionary definitions for helping (2 of 2)

verb

noun

interjection

Derived forms of help

Word Origin for help

Idioms and Phrases with helping