helping

helping
    n 1: an individual quantity of food or drink taken as part of a
         meal; "the helpings were all small"; "his portion was
         larger than hers"; "there's enough for two servings each"
         [syn: {helping}, {portion}, {serving}]
    

Help \Help\ (h[e^]lp), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Helped} (h[e^]lpt)
   (Obs. imp. {Holp} (h[=o]lp), p. p. {Holpen} (h[=o]l"p'n)); p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Helping}.] [AS. helpan; akin to OS. helpan, D.
   helpen, G. helfen, OHG. helfan, Icel. hj[=a]lpa, Sw. hjelpa,
   Dan. hielpe, Goth. hilpan; cf. Lith. szelpti, and Skr. klp to
   be fitting.]
   1. To furnish with strength or means for the successful
      performance of any action or the attainment of any object;
      to aid; to assist; as, to help a man in his work; to help
      one to remember; -- the following infinitive is commonly
      used without to; as, "Help me scale yon balcony."
      --Longfellow.
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   2. To furnish with the means of deliverance from trouble; as,
      to help one in distress; to help one out of prison. "God
      help, poor souls, how idly do they talk!" --Shak.
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   3. 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. "To help him of his
      blindness." --Shak.
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            The true calamus helps coughs.        --Gerarde.
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   4. To change for the better; to remedy.
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            Cease to lament for what thou canst not help.
                                                  --Shak.
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   5. To prevent; to hinder; as, the evil approaches, and who
      can help it? --Swift.
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   6. To forbear; to avoid.
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            I can not help remarking the resemblance betwixt him
            and our author.                       --Pope.
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   7. To wait upon, as the guests at table, by carving and
      passing food.
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   {To help forward}, to assist in advancing.

   {To help off}, to help to go or pass away, as time; to assist
      in removing. --Locke.

   {To help on}, to forward; to promote by aid.

   {To help out}, to aid, as in delivering from a difficulty, or
      to aid in completing a design or task.
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            The god of learning and of light
            Would want a god himself to help him out. --Swift.

   {To help over}, to enable to surmount; as, to help one over
      an obstacle.

   {To help to}, to supply with; to furnish with; as, to help
      one to soup.

   {To help up}, to help (one) to get up; to assist in rising,
      as after a fall, and the like. "A man is well holp up that
      trusts to you." --Shak.

   Syn: To aid; assist; succor; relieve; serve; support;
        sustain; befriend.

   Usage: To {Help}, {Aid}, {Assist}. These words all agree in
          the idea of affording relief or support to a person
          under difficulties. Help turns attention especially to
          the source of relief. If I fall into a pit, I call for
          help; and he who helps me out does it by an act of his
          own. Aid turns attention to the other side, and
          supposes co["o]peration on the part of him who is
          relieved; as, he aided me in getting out of the pit; I
          got out by the aid of a ladder which he brought.
          Assist has a primary reference to relief afforded by a
          person who "stands by" in order to relieve. It denotes
          both help and aid. Thus, we say of a person who is
          weak, I assisted him upstairs, or, he mounted the
          stairs by my assistance. When help is used as a noun,
          it points less distinctively and exclusively to the
          source of relief, or, in other words, agrees more
          closely with aid. Thus we say, I got out of a pit by
          the help of my friend.
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helping \helping\ n.
   1. a quantity of food served as part of a meal.

   Syn: portion, serving.
        [WordNet 1.5]

   2. the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need
      or furtherance of an effort or purpose.

   Syn: aid, assistance, help.
        [WordNet 1.5]
    

77 Moby Thesaurus words for "helping":
      accessory, adjuvant, allotment, allowance, ancillary, antepast,
      assistant, assisting, attendant, attending, auxiliary, big end,
      bigger half, bit, bite, budget, chunk, commission, contingent,
      course, cover, cut, deal, dessert, destiny, dish, dividend, dole,
      dollop, end, entree, entremets, equal share, fate, fostering, half,
      halver, help, instrumental, interest, lot, measure, meed, menial,
      mess, ministerial, ministering, ministrant, modicum, moiety,
      nurtural, nutricial, part, percentage, piece, place, plate,
      portion, proportion, quantum, quota, rake-off, ration,
      second helping, segment, service, servile, serving, servitorial,
      share, slice, small share, stake, stock, subservient, subsidiary,
      waiting