Help vs Contact - What's the difference?

In lang=en terms the difference between help and contact

is that help is to avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain (oneself) usually used in nonassertive contexts with can while contact is to establish communication with something or someone.

As nouns the difference between help and contact

is that help is (uncountable) action given to provide assistance; aid while contact is the act of touching physically; being in close association.

As verbs the difference between help and contact

is that help is to provide assistance to (someone or something) while contact is to touch; to come into physical contact with.

help

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl), from (etyl) .

Noun

(en-noun)

(uncountable) Action given to provide assistance; aid.

I need some help with my homework.

(usually, uncountable) Something or someone which provides assistance with a task.

He was a great help to me when I was moving house.

I've printed out a list of math helps .

Documentation provided with computer software, etc. and accessed using the computer.

I can't find anything in the help about rotating an image.

(usually, uncountable) 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.

Most of the hired help is seasonal, for the harvest.

(uncountable, euphemistic) Correction of deficits, as by psychological counseling or medication or social support or remedial training.

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-help

Etymology 2

From (etyl) helpen, from (etyl) . Cognate with (etyl) .

Verb

To provide assistance to (someone or something).

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=76, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Snakes and ladders , passage=Risk is everywhere.

To contribute in some way to.

To provide assistance.

* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)

, chapter=19 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.}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= 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.}}

To avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain (oneself). Usually used in nonassertive contexts with can .

Usage notes

* Use 3 is often used in the imperative mood as a call for assistance. * In uses 1, 2 and 3, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . It can also take the bare infinitive with no change in meaning. * In use 4, can't help is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) or, with but, the bare infinitive. * For more information, see

Synonyms

* (provide assistance to) aid, assist, come to the aid of, help out * (contribute in some way to) contribute to * (provide assistance) assist

Derived terms

* a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down * can't help * helper * helping * help oneself * help out

Statistics

* English control verbs English phrasebook 1000 English basic words ----

contact

English

Noun

(en noun)

The act of touching physically; being in close association.

* {{quote-book, year=1935, author= George Goodchild

, title=Death on the Centre Court, chapter=1 , passage=She mixed furniture with the same fatal profligacy as she mixed drinks, and this outrageous contact between things which were intended by Nature to be kept poles apart gave her an inexpressible thrill.}}

The establishment of communication (with).

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=In the old days, […], he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.}}

A nodule designed to connect a device with something else.

Someone with whom one is in communication.

(label) A contact lens.

(label) A device designed for repetitive connections.

Contact juggling.

(mining) The plane between two adjacent bodies of dissimilar rock.

(Raymond)

Derived terms

* body contact * contact hitter * contactable * eye contact * first contact * golden contact * point of contact / POC

Verb

(en verb)

To touch; to come into physical contact with.

The side of the car contacted the pedestrian.

To establish communication with something or someone

I am trying to contact my sister.