help
/hɛlp/noun, verb, interjection
help is spelled H-E-L-P. The wrong spelling people search most is halp: about 240 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 137 of all searches for the word. Help is a noun meaning “Action given to provide assistance; aid”. The plural of help is helps.
How many letters and syllables are in help?
| Letters | 4: H-E-L-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 562 times per million words; the 173rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, halp, about 240 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell help?
Help is spelled H-E-L-P. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 90 of the searches for help in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is help?
Help appears 562 times per million words in written English, the 173rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce help?
- US /hɛlp/
- [hɛo̯p] ~ [hɛʊ̯p]
- Australia /help/
Help has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-help.wav, En-uk-to_help.ogg, En-us-help.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with help?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as help from its last stressed vowel (/ɛlp/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of help
- helps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- he'p
- helping participle, present
- helped past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
- help!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does help mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Action given to provide assistance; aid.
I need some help with my homework.
- 2
Something or someone which provides assistance with a task.
He was a great help to me when I was moving house.
- 3
Documentation provided with computer software that could be accessed using the computer.
I can't find anything in the help about rotating an image.
- 4
A study aid.
I've printed out a list of math helps.
- 5
One or more people employed to help in the maintenance of a house or the operation of a farm or enterprise.
The help is coming round this morning to clean.
- 6
Correction of deficits, as by psychological counseling or medication or social support or remedial training.
His suicide attempts were a cry for help.
verb
- 1
To provide assistance to (someone or something).
He helped his grandfather cook breakfast.
- 2
To assist (a person) in getting something, especially food or drink at table; used with to.
It is polite to help your guests to food before serving yourself.
- 3
To contribute in some way to.
The white paint on the walls helps make the room look brighter.
- 4
To provide assistance.
She was struggling with the groceries, so I offered to help.
- 5
To avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain (oneself). Usually used in nonassertive contexts with can.
We couldn’t help noticing that you were late.
- 6
To do something on the behalf of someone.
Can you help me buy some groceries?
- 7
To assist or sympathize with (the speaker); used to express displeasure, disappointment or exasperation.
Compare Malay tolong (“help; please”) and Hokkien 導郎 /导郎 (tō͘-lông, “help; please”)
interjection
- 1
A cry of distress or an urgent request for assistance.
– Take that, you scoundrel. – Help! Robin, help!
- 2
A way to signal uncontrollable laughter; implying the risk of dying of laughter and needing assistance.
helpppp that's too funny, did she rlly say that?
noun
- 1
Initialism of heat escape lessening position: a crouching position with the knees held close to the chest, used to conserve body heat in cold water.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Help in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | aide, secours , auxiliaire, assistant, assistante , aider |
| German | Hilfe, Beistand , Helfer, Helferin , helfen , Hausangestellter |
| Portuguese | ajuda, socorro, auxílio , ajudante, servente , criado |
| Spanish | ayuda, socorro, auxilio , mucamo, fámulo , ayudar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does help come from?
From Middle English help, from Old English help (“help, aid, assistance, relief”), from Proto-Germanic *helpō (“help”), *hilpiz, *hulpiz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb-, *ḱelp- (“to help”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).