help

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

• transitive v. To give assistance to; aid: I helped her find the book. He helped me into my coat.
• transitive v. To contribute to the furtherance of; promote.
• transitive v. To give relief to: help the needy.
• transitive v. To ease; relieve: medication to help your cold.
• transitive v. To change for the better; improve: A fresh coat of paint will help a scarred old table.
• transitive v. To refrain from; avoid or resist. Used with can or cannot: couldn't help laughing.
• transitive v. To wait on, as in a store or restaurant.
• intransitive v. To be of service; give assistance.
• n. The act or an instance of helping.
• n. Aid or assistance.
• n. Relief; remedy.
• n. One that helps: You've been a great help. A food processor is a help to the serious cook.
• n. A person employed to help, especially a farm worker or domestic servant.
• n. Such employees considered as a group. Often used with the.
• idiom help (oneself) to To serve or provide oneself with: Help yourself to the cookies.
• idiom help (oneself) to Informal To take (something) without asking permission: The thief helped himself to our family silver.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• n. Action given to provide assistance; aid.
• n. A person or persons who provide assistance with some task.
• n. One or more people employed to help in the maintenance of a house or the operation of a farm or enterprise.
• n. Correction of deficits, as by psychological counseling or medication or social support or remedial training.
• v. To provide assistance to (someone or something).
• v. To contribute in some way to.
• v. To provide assistance.
• v. To avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain (oneself). Usually used in nonassertive contexts with can.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• n. Strength or means furnished toward promoting an object, or deliverance from difficulty or distress; aid; ^; also, the person or thing furnishing the aid.
• n. Remedy; relief.
• n. A helper; one hired to help another; also, thew hole force of hired helpers in any business.
• n. Specifically, a domestic servant, man or woman.
• intransitive v. To lend aid or assistance; to contribute strength or means; to avail or be of use; to assist.
• transitive v. To furnish with strength or means for the successful performance of any action or the attainment of any object; to aid; to assist; ; -- the following infinitive is commonly used without to
• transitive v. To furnish with the means of deliverance from trouble
• transitive v. 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.
• transitive v. To change for the better; to remedy.
• transitive v. To prevent; to hinder; as, the evil approaches, and who can help it?
• transitive v. To forbear; to avoid.
• transitive v. To wait upon, as the guests at table, by carving and passing food.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

• To furnish aid to; contribute strength or means to; assist in doing, accomplishing, or attaining anything; assist; aid: as, to help a man in his work; to help one out of difficulties. See to help to, below.
• To bring succor or relief to; relieve; rescue.
• To mitigate, as pain or disease; heal, relieve, or comfort, as a person in pain or distress.
• To mend; repair.
• To change for the better; remedy: as, he cannot help his deformity.
• To prevent; avoid; forbear; keep or refrain from: with can or cannot.
• To increase; aggravate.
• To aid in going, removing, getting, etc.: with ellipsis of to go, to get, etc.: as, help me in (that is, help me to go in); help me off my horse.
• To give out in portions.
• To lend aid; be of use; avail.
• To serve or distribute food, as at table.
• n. Assistance; aid given toward doing, accomplishing, or attaining anything, as labor, escape from danger or difficulty, discharge of obligations, etc.
• n. Remedy; relief; succor; means of deliverance: as, failure is inevitable, there is no help for it.
• n. A source of aid, relief, or succor; a helper.
• n. Hence An assistant; a hired laborer or servant; especially, a domestic or household servant; collectively, servants or assistants; the supply of workers.

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

• v. improve the condition of
• v. abstain from doing; always used with a negative
• v. contribute to the furtherance of
• n. a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
• v. be of use
• v. improve; change for the better
• n. a resource
• n. a means of serving
• n. the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
• v. give help or assistance; be of service
• v. take or use
• v. help to some food; help with food or drink