aid
see also: AID
Pronunciation Noun

aid

  1. (uncountable) Help; assistance; succor, relief.
    He came to my aid when I was foundering.
    • An unconstitutional mode of obtaining aid.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314 ↗, page 0029 ↗:
      “[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
  2. (countable) A helper; an assistant.
    • Bible, Book of Tobit viii. 6
      It is not good that man should be alone; let us make unto him an aid like unto himself.
  3. (countable) Something which helps; a material source of help.
    Slimming aids include dietary supplements and appetite suppressants.
  4. (countable, British) An historical subsidy granted to the crown by Parliament for an extraordinary purpose, such as a war effort.
  5. (countable, British) An exchequer loan.
  6. (countable, legal) A pecuniary tribute paid by a vassal to his feudal lord on special occasions.
  7. (countable) An aide-de-camp, so called by abbreviation.
    The incompetent general's brilliant aid often made priceless suggestions.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

aid (aids, present participle aiding; past and past participle aided)

  1. (transitive) To provide support to; to further the progress of; to help; to assist.
    • 1591, William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene iii]:
      You speedy helpers […] Appear and aid me in this enterprise.
  2. (climbing) To climb with the use of aids such as pitons.
    • 1979, American Alpine Journal (page 193)
      Rather than climb into a bottomless off-width crack, we aided an 80-foot A2 to A3 crack to the top of a pedestal. By very tenuous face climbing, we gained entry to the crack, which we followed to a tree beneath the big chimney.
Synonyms Related terms Translations
AID
Proper noun
  1. Initialism of Agency for International Development



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