aid

Help given to someone who needs support or is in difficulty.

• She called for aid.
• We finished the job with his aid.
• Who came to your aid when you fell?

How to use it: come to someone’s aid (A stranger came to our aid.)

Similar words: help, assistance

Common phrases: come to someone’s aid, with someone’s aid, first aid

Help such as money, food, or medicine given to people who need it, often by governments or organizations.

• The country needs food aid.
• Several governments sent aid after the storm.
• Medical aid has reached the villages.

Similar words: assistance, relief

Common phrases: foreign aid, humanitarian aid, send aid

A person or thing that helps you do something.

• This chart is a useful aid.
• He uses a hearing aid.
• The exercises work as memory aids.

How to use it: aid to something (Pictures are a useful aid to learning.)

Similar words: helper, tool

Common phrases: hearing aid, learning aid, aid to something, walking aid

To help someone or make something easier to do.

• Exercise can aid recovery.
• Local people aided the rescue team.
• The extra money has aided our research.

How to use it: aid someone in doing something (The guide aided us in finding the route.); aid in something (The new equipment aids in diagnosis.)

Similar words: help, assist

Opposites: hinder

Common phrases: aid someone, aid recovery, aid in something