benefit

Pluralbenefits

Formsbenefits, benefiting, benefited

1. 1
   advantagenouncountable or uncountable

   An advantage gained from something, or the help or aid it provides.

   The new software offers considerable benefit to small businesses managing tight budgets.

   Students gained little benefit from cramming the night before the exam.

   UsageThe benefits of exercise, get benefit from it, of benefit to someone; also little benefit or one of the benefits.

   Similaradvantage, value, use, gain

   Oppositedisadvantage, drawback, harm, detriment

2. 2
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To help someone or something or give them an advantage; also, to gain an advantage or be helped.

   Lower fuel costs benefit airlines and passengers alike.

   The scholarship program has benefited hundreds of first-generation college students.

   UsageSomething benefits you; you benefit from it. Spelled benefited or benefitted: pick one and keep to it.

   Similarhelp

3. 3
   insurance paymentnouncountable or uncountable

   A payment made under the terms of an insurance policy or a public assistance program.

   The policy pays a death benefit to the surviving spouse.

   Workers who are laid off can apply for unemployment benefits through the state.

   UsageOften plural for government money: unemployment benefits. In insurance, a death benefit is money payable when an insured person dies.

   Similarpayment, allowance

   Note

   Insurance and public assistance make the word concrete. The advantage becomes a sum owed to a policyholder, dependent or claimant when a qualifying event occurs: death, disability, unemployment, retirement. Read a death benefit or unemployment benefits as money paid out, not as a perk. That separates it from the general sense of advantage, where nothing need change hands. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Insurance can pay a death benefit when the insured dies. content.naic.org
   • Public programs provide monetary benefits for qualifying disability and retirement. ssa.gov
   • Unemployment benefits are monetary payments to eligible claimants. dol.georgia.gov
4. 4
   job extranouncountable

   Something an employer gives workers on top of their pay, for example health coverage, paid leave, or a retirement plan.

   The company offers generous benefits, including a pension plan and paid parental leave.

   The new contract adds a dental benefit for every full-time employee.

   UsageA job comes with or offers benefits, often listed as a benefits package; one item is a dental benefit.

   Similarperk

   Note

   Keep it apart from the insurance or welfare payment: that arrives from a policy or a public scheme, while these come with the job itself.

5. 5
   meant fornounusually singular

   Used in for the benefit of and for someone's benefit to name whom a remark or action is aimed at, as the audience it is meant to inform or impress.

   The captain repeated the instructions for the benefit of anyone who had missed the first announcement.

   Her dramatic sigh was entirely for the benefit of the cameras.

   UsageOften has a theatrical edge: a scene staged for his benefit suggests the display is not sincere.

   Note

   A phrase-bound use that names who an act is aimed at, not who gains from it. To tell it from the sense of advantage, ask whether anyone actually profits or is merely the audience.

6. 6
   charity eventnouncountable

   An event, such as a concert or theatrical performance, held to raise money for a cause or charity.

   Local bands played a benefit at the old firehouse on Saturday, raising enough money to rebuild the town's flooded library.

   Several comedians performed without pay at a benefit for the children's hospital.

   UsageA benefit for a hospital or cause; often before another noun: a benefit concert, a benefit dinner.

   Similarfundraiser

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