| / English Dictionary |
ASSISTANCE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
Example:
offered his help in unloading
Synonyms:
aid; assist; assistance; help
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("assistance" is a kind of...):
activity (any specific behavior)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assistance"):
support (aiding the cause or policy or interests of)
comfort (assistance, such as that provided to an enemy or to a known criminal)
boost; encouragement (the act of giving hope or support to someone)
accommodation (the act of providing something (lodging or seat or food) to meet a need)
service (an act of help or assistance)
lift (the act of giving temporary assistance)
ministration; relief; succor; succour (assistance in time of difficulty)
thanks (with the help of or owing to)
recourse; refuge; resort (act of turning to for assistance)
hand; helping hand (physical assistance)
facilitation (act of assisting or making easier the progress or improvement of something)
self-help (the act of helping or improving yourself without relying on anyone else)
Derivation:
assist (give help or assistance; be of service)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A person or thing that is a resource that helps make something easier or possible to do
Example:
his job was to give technical assistance over the phone
Synonyms:
aid; assistance; help
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("assistance" is a kind of...):
resource (a source of aid or support that may be drawn upon when needed)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Gift of money or other material help to support a person or cause
Example:
economic assistance to depressed areas
Synonyms:
aid; assistance; economic aid; economic assistance; financial aid; financial assistance
Classified under:
Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession
Hypernyms ("assistance" is a kind of...):
gift (something acquired without compensation)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assistance"):
public assistance; social welfare; welfare (governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need)
philanthropic gift; philanthropy (voluntary promotion of human welfare)
scholarship (financial aid provided to a student on the basis of academic merit)
fellowship (money granted (by a university or foundation or other agency) for advanced study or research)
foreign aid (aid (such as economic or military assistance) provided to one nation by another)
grant (any monetary aid)
grant-in-aid (a grant to a person or school for some educational project)
traineeship (financial aid that enables you to get trained for a specified job)
Context examples:
She had no natural connexions to assist her even with their counsel, and she could not afford to purchase the assistance of the law.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Including management of clinical trials, direct patient care, and research assistance.
(Clinical Research Nursing, NCI Thesaurus)
In a study of mice, scientists discovered that both may need the assistance of a ‘sticky’ gene, named after a mythological figure, called Shisa7.
(‘Sticky’ gene may help Valium calm nerves, National Institutes of Health)
Lindsey and Jonathan Ajo-Franklin, a geophysicist at Rice University in Houston, led the experiment with the assistance of Craig Dawe of MBARI, which owns the fiber-optic cable.
(Underwater telecom cables make superb seismic network, National Science Foundation)
‘A Russian nobleman who is now resident in England,’ it runs, ‘would be glad to avail himself of the professional assistance of Dr. Percy Trevelyan.’
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The authors say the findings can be used to identify who is most at risk for the negative effects of sleep deprivation, and thus should receive medical assistance to prevent those effects.
(Why Lack of Sleep Affects Some More Than Others, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Eating toxic mushrooms causes more than 100 deaths a year, globally, and leaves thousands of people in need of urgent medical assistance.
(New Test Identifies Poisonous Mushrooms, Agricultural Research Service)
“I am not the one who carried away the victory,” said he, “but a strange knight who came to my assistance with his soldiers.”
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Your mother or father may need your assistance, or it may be that a member of your family welcomes a baby that brings everyone together in a joyful celebration.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
By his assistance, I was able to hold a conversation with those who came to visit me; but this consisted only of their questions, and my answers.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
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