help

HELP/hɛlp/

12 meanings of help

1
assistverbtransitive
To make it easier for someone to do something, or to be of use, by giving assistance or support.
Volunteers help families rebuild after natural disasters.
A good teacher helps students find their own answers.
UsageHelp someone do something, with or without to: helped him (to) carry the bags. Also help with a task.
Similarassist, aid, support
Oppositehinder, impede, obstruct
Note
The Economist in 2013 wrote of a book that aims to help data-phobes find their way. Older English also had the past form holp and the participle holpen, both now archaic.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The Economist used the quoted wording about a book in 2013. en.wiktionary.org
Holp is an archaic past-tense form of help. en.wiktionary.org
Holpen is an archaic past participle of help. en.wiktionary.org
2
verbtransitive
To contribute to or promote a particular result.
Regular exercise helps recovery after illness.
Clear instructions help the whole process run smoothly.
UsageOften in it helps to plus a verb: it helps to have some experience.
Similaraid, promote, boost, assist, facilitate
Oppositehinder, hamper, impede, slow
Note
Things and circumstances usually do the helping here, not people. White paint helps make a room look brighter, and pills may fail to help a headache.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
White paint can make a room look brighter. assets.ctfassets.net
Painkiller pills may fail to relieve a headache. nhs.uk
3
assistancenoununcountable
Assistance or support given to someone who needs it, including professional care or treatment.
The flood victims received help from across the country.
His steady help made the whole project possible.
UsageTakes some, a lot of or any: need some help with homework, thanks for your help.
Similarassistance, aid, support
4
can't avoidverbtransitive
To prevent or avoid something; to keep oneself from doing it. Usually used with "can" in negatives or questions.
He couldn't help noticing the mistake on the sign.
I can't help the way I feel about the decision.
UsageWith can't or couldn't: couldn't help noticing or couldn't help but notice, and I can't help it.
Similaravoid, resist, stop
Note
The odd one out, where help means holding back rather than assisting. With a reflexive, she can't help herself means losing the struggle for self-control.
5
something usefulnoununcountable
A person or thing that gives assistance or is useful with a task.
An extra pair of hands is always a help on moving day.
The new software proved a genuine help to the design team.
UsageTakes a: be a help to someone, a great help.
Similaraid, asset, boon, benefit
Oppositehindrance, burden
6
verbHong KongSingaporetransitive
To act on someone's behalf by doing a task for them.
I'm stuck in a meeting, so can you help me buy lunch on your way back?
While she was overseas, her colleague helped her submit the visa form at the office.
UsageHere help me buy lunch asks the listener to do the whole task, not share it.
Similarassist, aid, oblige
Note
A regional usage of Hong Kong and Singapore English, where help can mean doing the whole task for someone. Can you help me buy some groceries? asks the listener to do the shopping, not to come along and carry bags. Speakers of other varieties may hear the ordinary "assist" sense and expect to share the work.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
The sense of help meaning to do something on someone's behalf is recorded in Hong Kong and Singapore English. en.wiktionary.org

Less common meanings

7
call for rescueinterjection
A shout used to call for urgent assistance when in danger or distress.
Like an alarm that brings people rushing to your side.
Help! The boat is taking on water and starting to sink!
Lost in the dark cave, the boy kept shouting "Help!" until his voice gave out.
8
serve foodverbtransitive
To serve a person with something, typically something to eat or drink at a meal, with "to" before the thing served.
The host helped each visitor to a glass of wine.
Please help yourself to whatever you like from the buffet.
UsageCommonly help yourself to food or drink. Helped himself to the cash can suggest taking it without permission.
Similarserve
9
hired workersnoununcountable
Paid workers employed to maintain a household or run a farm or business.
The hotel brought on seasonal help for the summer rush.
Reliable help is hard to find at harvest time.
UsageOften the help or the hired help, with a singular verb: the help is seasonal.
Similarstaff, workers, labor, employees, hands
Note
Domestic and farm labor spoken of as a single body: the help, the hired help. Putting hired in front stresses the paid arrangement, which is what separates this sense from friendly assistance.
10
software guidenoununcountable
On-screen documentation included with software, accessed from within the program.
She searched the help for instructions on exporting files.
The application's help explains every menu option in detail.
Similardocumentation
Note
Software documentation of a particular kind: the reference material that lives inside the program itself. Users treat it as a place to search. You look something up in the help, and a topic either is or is not in the help. It takes the and stays singular, like the name of a room you can walk into.
11
too funnyinterjection
An exclamation signaling helpless laughter, as if one might die laughing and need rescuing.
Help, why is the cat wearing tiny sunglasses?!
Help, I just read your text out loud on the bus and now I can't stop laughing.
Note
Internet slang that turns a shout of distress into a laugh: the writer is so overcome that someone had better come to the rescue. In messages it can appear in lowercase, stretched with extra letters, as in helpppp. Out of context it could pass for the real cry for rescue, but what follows (that's too funny) gives the joke away.
12
exasperationverbSingaporetransitiveimperative
In Singapore English, used in the imperative, often as help lah, to express exasperation or displeasure, much like 'give me a break'.
Help lah, I've already explained the rules to you three times.
Help lah, you parked right in front of my gate again.
Note
A plea for help worn down into a sigh. In Singapore English, help lah means roughly give me a break, said when something annoys or lets you down, such as a late train or a repeated mistake. The lah is the Singlish particle that adds feeling to a remark. Compare Malay tolong, literally help, which also pleads like please.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Malay tolong literally means help and also introduces polite requests like please. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of help apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 3, 5, 9–10

Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb- or *ḱelp- ("to help") is probably the ultimate source, by way of Proto-Germanic *helpō. In Old English the noun help meant "help, aid, assistance, relief," and it kept the same form in Middle English. Dutch hulp, German Hilfe, and Swedish hjälp are relatives.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

The noun descends through Proto-Germanic *helpō. en.wiktionary.org
Old English help meant help, aid, assistance, or relief. en.wiktionary.org
The noun retained the form help in Middle English. en.wiktionary.org
Dutch hulp is related to English help. en.wiktionary.org
German Hilfe is related to English help. en.wiktionary.org
Swedish hjälp is related to English help. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 1–2, 4, 6–8, 11–12

Old English helpan had a wide range of meanings, "to help, aid, assist, relieve, cure," and became Middle English helpen. It comes from Proto-Germanic *helpaną and probably goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb- or *ḱelp- ("to help"). Dutch helpen, German helfen, and Gothic hilpan are relatives.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

Old English helpan meant help, aid, assist, relieve, and cure. en.wiktionary.org
Middle English helpen descended from Old English helpan. en.wiktionary.org
The verb descends from Proto-Germanic *helpaną. en.wiktionary.org
Its probable earlier source is Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb- or *ḱelp-, meaning “to help.” en.wiktionary.org
Dutch helpen, German helfen, and Gothic hilpan are cognates of English help. en.wiktionary.org