- denoting a charitable organization or function that raises money for a cause: Band Aid, Ferryaid
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
aid /eɪd/USA pronunciation
v.
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to provide support (for) or relief (to);
help: [~ + object]accused of aiding the enemy.[~ + in + object]They aided in the development of the country. - [~ + object] to promote the progress of;
facilitate: The sleeping pill will aid your sleep.
n.
- help or support;
assistance:[uncountable]financial aid to the country. - a person or thing that aids or furnishes assistance:[countable]an aid to digestion.
aid
(ād),USA pronunciation v.t.
v.i.
n.
aid′er, n.
aid′ful, adj.
aid′less, adj.
AID (ād),USA pronunciation n. [U.S. Govt.]
AID,
- to provide support for or relief to;
help:to aid the homeless victims of the fire. - to promote the progress or accomplishment of;
facilitate.
v.i.
- to give help or assistance.
n.
- help or support;
assistance. - a person or thing that aids or furnishes assistance;
helper;
auxiliary. - Sport aids, [Manège.]
- Also called natural aids. the means by which a rider communicates with and controls a horse, as the hands, legs, voice, and shifts in weight.
- Also called artificial aids. the devices by means of which a rider increases control of a horse, as spurs, whip, and martingale.
- Militaryaide-de-camp.
- GovernmentSee foreign aid.
- World Historya payment made by feudal vassals to their lord on special occasions.
- World History[Eng. Hist.](after 1066) any of several revenues received by a king in the Middle Ages from his vassals and other subjects, limited by the Magna Charta to specified occasions.
- Latin, as above
- Anglo-French, Old French aid(i)er
- Latin adjūtāre to help (frequentative of adjuvāre), equivalent. to ad- ad- + -jū- help + -t- frequentative suffix + -āre infinitive suffix; (verb, verbal)
- Anglo-French, Old French aide, noun, nominal derivative of aid(i)er
- (noun, nominal) late Middle English ayde 1375–1425
aid′ful, adj.
aid′less, adj.
- 1. See help. 2. abet, back, foster, advance. 4. succor; relief; subsidy, grant.
- 2. hinder, frustrate.
- Although the nouns aid and aide both have among their meanings "an assisting person,'' the spelling aide is increasingly used for the sense "helper, assistant'':One of the senator's aides is calling.Aide in military use is short for aide-de-camp. It is also the spelling in nurse's aide.
AID (ād),USA pronunciation n. [U.S. Govt.]
- Governmentthe division of the United States International Development Cooperation Agency that coordinates the various foreign aid programs with U.S. foreign policy: established in 1961.
- A(gency for) I(nternational) Dutch(evelopment)
AID,
- American Institute of Decorators.
- American Institute of Interior Designers.
- British TermsAlso, A.I.D. artificial insemination donor.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Aid, -aid n combining form
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
aid /eɪd/ vb
- to give support to (someone to do something); help or assist
- (transitive) to assist financially
- assistance; help; support
- a person, device, etc, that helps or assists
- Also: artificial aid any of various devices such as a piton or nut when used as a direct help in the ascent
- (in medieval Europe; in England after 1066) a feudal payment made to the king or any lord by his vassals, usually on certain occasions such as the marriage of a daughter or the knighting of an eldest son
'AID' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
adjutant
- Afro-pessimism
- aide-de-camp
- appeal
- artificial aid
- assist
- astrolabe
- atropine
- auscultation
- auxiliary
- bail out
- Band-Aid
- barefoot doctor
- bazaar
- benevolent
- birthing ball
- blessing
- brain death
- calculator
- CAS
- chart
- clapperboard
- classify
- client
- collimator
- compute
- consul
- crib
- deaf aid
- deliver
- dependant
- dependent
- diabolism
- diagnosis
- direction finder
- dressing station
- ear trumpet
- e-bike
- familiar
- fertilize
- fête
- first aid
- flashcard
- flipper
- float
- floaty
- freediving
- Geldof
- abet
- accessory