assistance

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act of assisting.
• noun Aid; help.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A being present; presence; attendance.
• noun The persons present; spectators; audience.
• noun Help; aid; furtherance; succor; a contribution in aid, by bodily strength or other means.
• noun An assistant or helper; assistants collectively.
• noun Hence, specifically In English common law and American colonial law, a general name for a somewhat undefined body of subordinate parish or town officers or auxiliaries, apparently including, as sometimes used, the ex-officers, in their customary function of advisers.
• noun In American history, a writ issued by a superior colonial court, on alleged precedents of the English Court of Exchequer, authorizing any officers of the crown, in the process of executing the acts of trade, to summon assistance and enter and search any premises. The attempt to use such writs in Massachusetts, defeated in 1761, was one of the abuses which led. to the revolution. Synonyms Aid, support, backing, relief.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of assisting; help; aid; furtherance; succor; support.
• noun obsolete An assistant or helper; a body of helpers.
• noun Obs. or a Gallicism Persons present.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Aid; help; the act or result of assisting.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a resource
• noun the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose