help

- definition

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Thesaurus

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verb

/help/

present tense
I/you/we/they	help
he/she/it	helps
present participle	helping
past tense	helped
past participle	helped

1
[intransitive/transitive] to give someone support or information so that they can do something more easily
If you are finding that difficult, I could help you.
Mary was anxious to help.
help someone (to) do something:
Can you help me find my glasses?
help someone with something:
Her brother offered to help her with her homework.
help someone through something:
They helped me through a very difficult time.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help
2
[transitive] to support someone when they move from one position to another or when they do some other action
I’ll help you to the door.
Can I help you off with your coat (=help you to take it off)?
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help
3
[transitive] to give someone something, especially food or drink
help someone to something:
Can I help you to more vegetables?
help yourself to something (=take some of it):
Help yourselves to more wine.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help
4
[intransitive/transitive] to make a situation better
More police officers on the streets would help.
Organic farming methods help the environment.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help
1. a.
  to make it easier to achieve something
  help (to) do something:
  The new measure will help boost trade.
  We hope this helps to clarify the situation.
  help towards:
  Further study will help towards a better understanding of the problem.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help

phrases

cannot/can’t help something
1. 1
  used for saying that someone cannot stop themselves doing something
  She couldn’t help laughing when she saw it.
  I shouldn’t have said it but I couldn’t help myself.
  can’t help thinking (=have good reason for thinking):
  I couldn’t help thinking he was asking for trouble.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help
2. 2
  someone cannot/can’t help it if
  used for saying that someone cannot be blamed for a situation
  She could not help it if her emotions took charge of her.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help
3. 3
  it cannot/can’t be helped
  there is no way of preventing something from happening
  It can’t be helped, we’ll just have to manage without her.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help
4. 4
  not if someone can help it
  used for saying that someone is trying to avoid something that they do not like doing
  They never go there if they can help it.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help
help yourself
spoken
used for giving someone permission to do or use something
‘Do you mind if I use the phone?’ ‘Help yourself.’
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help
help yourself to something
informal
to steal something
He’d been helping himself to money from my purse for months.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of help

phrasal verbs

Get It Right!: help

The verb help is not used with the -ing form of another verb. It is used with the infinitive (with or without ‘to’) in any of these patterns:

▪ help do something

▪ help to do something

▪ help someone do something

▪ help someone to do something

✗ Foreign tourists can help revitalizing our economy.

✓ Foreign tourists can help revitalize our economy.

✓ Foreign tourists can help to revitalize our economy.

✗ Banning smoking in restaurants may help people avoiding the risk of illness.

✓ Banning smoking in restaurants may help people avoid the risk of illness.

✓ Banning smoking in restaurants may help people to avoid the risk of illness.

The -ing form is only used with help in the fixed expression can’t help doing something:

I can’t help thinking that they should have informed the police.

Metaphor: help

Helping people is like supporting them physically, for example with your body or with something that you build.

You can rely on their support.
You can always lean on me.
I need someone to hold my hand – I can’t do it on my own.
I need a shoulder to cry on.
Let me lend a hand.
They gave me a helping hand/a leg-up.
She put her life in their hands.
The government stepped in to prop/shore up the fishing industry.
They made some constructive comments/suggestions.
She’s a pillar of the community.

➡ responsibility

This is the British English definition of help. View American English definition of help.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

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help

What are red words?

Thesaurus

Related thesaurus entries

phrases

cannot/can’t help something

someone cannot/can’t help it if

it cannot/can’t be helped

not if someone can help it

help yourself

help yourself to something

phrasal verbs

showmance

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