Allow vs Help - What's the difference?
allow | help |
To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have.
* 2004 , Constance Garnett (translator), Anton Chekhov (Russian author), “Ariadne”, in The Darling: and Other Stories :
To acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion.
* 1855 , (William Makepeace Thackeray), (The Newcomes)
To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct.
To grant license to; to permit; to consent to.
*
To not bar or obstruct.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author=(Leo Hickman)
, volume=189, issue=7, page=26, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To acknowledge or concede.
* 2000 , (George RR Martin), A Storm of Swords , Bantam (2011), page 154:
To take into account by making an allowance.
To render physically possible.
* 1824 , (Washington Irving), :
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
, page=13 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (obsolete) To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.
* Bible, Luke xi. 48
* Fuller
(obsolete) To sanction; to invest; to entrust.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) To like; to be suited or pleased with.
* Massinger
(uncountable) Action given to provide assistance; aid.
(usually, uncountable) Something or someone which provides assistance with a task.
Documentation provided with computer software, etc. and accessed using the computer.
(usually, uncountable) One or more people employed to help in the maintenance of a house or the operation of a farm or enterprise.
(uncountable, euphemistic) Correction of deficits, as by psychological counseling or medication or social support or remedial training.
To provide assistance to (someone or something).
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=76, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= To contribute in some way to.
To provide assistance.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=19 * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= To avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain (oneself). Usually used in nonassertive contexts with can .
In transitive terms the difference between allow and help
is that allow is to render physically possible while help is to avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain (oneself). Usually used in nonassertive contexts with can.In intransitive terms the difference between allow and help
is that allow is to acknowledge or concede while help is to provide assistance.As a noun help is
action given to provide assistance; aid.allow
English
Verb
(en verb)- he needed a great deal of money, but his uncle only allowed him two thousand roubles a year, which was not enough, and for days together he would run about Moscow with his tongue out, as the saying is.
- I allow , with Mrs. Grundy and most moralists, that Miss Newcome's conductwas highly reprehensible.
- With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get
How algorithms rule the world, passage=The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.}}
- Half the night passed before the wench allowed that it might be safe to stop.
- When calculating a budget for a construction project, always allow for contingencies.
- The inlet allowed a facility to bring the money in a boat secretly and at night to the very foot of the hill.
Ideas coming down the track, passage=A “moving platform” scheme
- Ye allow the deeds of your fathers.
- We commend his pains, condemn his pride, allow his life, approve his learning.
- Thou shalt be allowed with absolute power.
- How allow you the model of these clothes?
Synonyms
* allot, assign, bestow, concede, admit, let, permit, suffer, tolerateDerived terms
* allowance * allowableReferences
*Statistics
* English control verbshelp
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl) .Noun
(en-noun)- I need some help with my homework.
- He was a great help to me when I was moving house.
- I've printed out a list of math helps .
- I can't find anything in the help about rotating an image.
- The help is coming round this morning to clean.
- Most of the hired help is seasonal, for the harvest.
- His suicide attempts were a cry for help .
- He really needs help in handling customer complaints.
- ''"He's a real road-rager." / "Yup, he really needs help , maybe anger management."
Usage notes
The sense "people employed to help in the maintenance of a house" is usually an uncountable mass noun. A countable form - "a hired help''", "''two hired helps " - is attested, but now less common.Quotations
(English Citations of "help")Synonyms
* (action given to provide assistance) aid, assistance * (person or persons who provide assistance) * (person employed to help in the maintenance of a house)Derived terms
* cry for help * help desk * helpful * helpless * helpline * helply * helpmate * helpmeet * helpsome * home help * self-helpEtymology 2
From (etyl) helpen, from (etyl) . Cognate with (etyl) .Verb
Snakes and ladders, passage=Risk is everywhere.
citation, passage=As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help , and he stripped off his tunic at once.}}
A punch in the gut, passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}