Help (hĕlp), v. t. [imp.
& p. p. Helped (hĕlpt) (Obs.
imp. Holp (hōlp), p.
p. Holpen (hōl"p'n)); p. pr. & vb.
n. Helping.] [AS. helpan; akin to OS.
helpan, D. helpen, G. helfen, OHG.
helfan, Icel. hjālpa, 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.
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.
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.
The true calamus helps coughs.
Gerarde.
4. To change for the better; to
remedy.
Cease to lament for what thou canst not
help.
Shak.
5. To prevent; to hinder; as, the evil
approaches, and who can help it? Swift.
6. To forbear; to avoid.
I can not help remarking the resemblance
betwixt him and our author.
Pope.
7. To wait upon, as the guests at table, by
carving and passing food.
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.
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. -- 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
coöperation 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.
Help (?), v. i. To lend aid or
assistance; to contribute strength or means; to avail or be of use;
to assist.
A generous present helps to persuade, as well
as an agreeable person.
Garth.
To help out, to lend aid; to bring a
supply.
Help, n. [AS. help; akin to D.
hulp, G. hülfe, hilfe, Icel.
hjālp, Sw. hjelp, Dan. hielp. See
Help, v. t.]
1. Strength or means furnished toward
promoting an object, or deliverance from difficulty or distress; aid;
^; also, the person or thing furnishing the aid; as, he gave me a
help of fifty dollars.
Give us help from trouble, for vain is the
help of man.
Ps. lx. 11.
God is . . . a very present help in
trouble.
Ps. xlvi. 1.
Virtue is a friend and a help to
nature.
South.
2. Remedy; relief; as, there is no
help for it.
3. A helper; one hired to help another; also,
thew hole force of hired helpers in any business.
4. Specifically, a domestic servant, man or
woman. [Local, U. S.]