aid

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Give support to

Nouns

1. (help given) aid, assistance, help, succor, relief; maintenance, sustenance, provision, upkeep, livelihood, daily bread; support, advance, furtherance, promotion; patronage, auspices, aegis, favor, backing, influence; ministration, subministration; accommodation; [helping] hand; self-help; helpfulness. Informal, bailout. See benevolence, instrumentality, utility.

2. (one who helps) helper, assistant, aid, aide; accessory, partisan, supporter, confederate; agent; ally, co-worker; supplies, reinforcements, backup; crutch; patron, fairy godmother or -father. Informal, angel. See auxiliary.

Verbs

1. (provide help) aid, assist, help [out], be of service, succor, come to the aid of, get behind; lend one's aid, lend oneself to, contribute, subsidize, subscribe to, advocate; reinforce; give or lend a [helping] hand, proffer aid, give one a lift, take in tow; oblige, accommodate, encourage.

2. (help to recover) relieve, rescue, set on one's legs, pull or see through; give new life to, be the making of; push forward, give a lift to, give a leg up, bolster, shore up; promote, further, forward, advance; speed, expedite (See haste); support, sustain, uphold, see one through. Informal, bail out.

3. (provide sustenance) nourish, nurture, foster, cherish, care for; suckle, nurse; feed or fan the flames; serve; do service to, administer to.

4. (assist, support) second, stand by, stick by, stand or stick up for; back [up], abet, take up the cudgels for; espouse [the cause of], advocate, give moral support to, keep in countenance, patronize; finance, subsidize; smile upon, favor, side with, take the part of, play the game of, go to bat for; be of use to, benefit.

5. (look for help) turn to, fall back on, enlist the aid of.

Adjectives — aiding, assisting, helping; auxiliary, adjuvant, helpful, instrumental, coadjuvant; ministrant, ancillary, accessory, subsidiary; favorable, well-disposed, benevolent, beneficent; obliging.

Adverbs — helpfully, favorably, beneficially.

Prepositions — with or by the aid of, by means of; on or in behalf of, in back of, in support of; on account of; for the sake of; on the part of.

Phrases — God helps them that help themselves; it takes two to tango; two heads are better than one.

Antonyms, See hindrance.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Assistance]

Syn. help, assistance, support, comfort, benefit, favor, benevolence, patronage, cooperation, giving, gift, subsidy, financial support, relief, welfare, bounty, compensation, allowance, charity, benefaction, succor, alleviation, mitigation, ministry, ministration, reinforcement, advocacy, promotion, subvention, encouragement, treatment, furtherance, advancement, backing, advice, guidance, service, sustenance, grant, funding, honorarium, endowment, rescue, deliverance, attention, care, first aid, lift*, hand*, helping hand*, boost*, leg up*.

Ant. hindrance, barrier*, obstacle.

2. [One appointed to give assistance]

Syn. aide, deputy, lieutenant; see assistant .

v.

Syn. help, support, assist, serve; see help 1 .

See Synonym Study at help .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

assistance, help, service, support, benefit, helping hand, contribution, benevolence, kindness, welfare.

II

v.

assist, help, serve, support, benefit, contribute, pitch in, lend a hand, oblige, abet.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I verb To give support or assistance: abet, assist, boost, help (out), relieve, succor. Idioms: give (or lend) a hand, give a leg up. See HELP. II noun 1. The act or an instance of helping: abetment, assist, assistance, hand, help, relief, succor, support. See HELP. 2. Assistance, especially money, food, and other necessities, given to the needy or dispossessed: dole, handout, public assistance, relief, welfare. See HELP. 3. A person who helps: abettor, attendant, help, helper, reliever, succorer. See HELP.