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assist

Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To give help or support to, especially as a subordinate or supplement; aid.
  • intransitive verb To give aid or support.
  • intransitive verb To be present, as at a conference.
  • noun The act of giving aid; help.
  • noun A fielding and throwing of a baseball in such a way that enables a teammate to put out a runner.
  • noun A pass, as in basketball or ice hockey, that enables the receiver to score.
  • noun A mechanical device providing aid.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To attend; be present at or with; take part with.
  • To help; aid; succor; give support to in some undertaking or effort, or in time of distress.
  • To be associated with as an assistant.
  • To lend aid or help.
  • To be present, as at a public meeting; take part, as in a ceremony or discussion.
  • In euchre, to order the adoption of the suit to which the card turned up as trump belongs, when this order is given by the partner of the dealer.

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

  • transitive verb To give support to in some undertaking or effort, or in time of distress; to help; to aid; to succor.
  • intransitive verb To lend aid; to help.
  • intransitive verb A Gallicism To be present as a spectator.

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

  • noun A helpful action or an act of giving.
  • noun sports a statistic used in different sports to quantify the act of helping another player score points or goals; in baseball, an assist is defensive, allowing a teammate to record a putout.
  • verb archaic To stand (at a place) or to (an opinion), to attend a theatrical performance.
  • verb To help.
  • verb sports To make a pass that leads directly towards scoring.

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

  • verb give help or assistance; be of service
  • verb work for or be a servant to
  • verb act as an assistant in a subordinate or supportive function
  • noun the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
  • noun (sports) the act of enabling another player to make a good play

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English assisten, from Old French assister, from Latin assistere : ad-, ad- + sistere, to stand; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French assister, from Latin assistere, both words meaning, "to assist."

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Examples

Comments

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  • PossibleUnderscore commented on the word assist

    "He was the surgeon who offered his assistance to the assistant surgeon who was assisting the surgeon who had no further need for assistance."

    -Colonel Henry Blake.

    July 26, 2009