1mass noun Help, typically of a practical nature.

1. 1.1Financial or material help given to a country or area in need.
   ‘700,000 tons of food aid’
   More example sentences

   • ‘an aid agency’
   • ‘It specializes in bringing food and other material aid to war-torn areas.’
   • ‘They also gave food and material aid to as many as 10,269 people to help reconstruct destroyed homes.’
   • ‘Eventually, they turned to their church and asked for some financial aid to buy food and basics and got it.’
   • ‘He said the World Food Programme was the only organisation supplying food aid to the area and that the community was willing to work with any other organisation.’
   • ‘The program guarantees financial aid to low-income students who earn a ‘C’ average or above.’
   • ‘Food and other aid to the refugees, living in the area for three years, has been stopped since Jan.1.’
   • ‘Therefore the Department of Labor gives financial aid to students with disabilities if they want to further their studies.’
   • ‘If you're recently unemployed, you may qualify for financial aid to help you meet requirements for entering a new field.’
   • ‘The underfunded UN Relief and Works Agency is being forced to cut off food aid because of security restrictions.’
   • ‘The country restricts the movement of foreigners, and groups that distribute aid to alleviate its food shortages are barred from some areas.’
   • ‘A meaningful targeted scheme of financial aid to purchase concentrate feed is needed to avoid disaster over the coming winter and spring months, it has been claimed.’
   • ‘Most crucially, the military was forced to admit its fleet of helicopters was in disrepair and there was nowhere near the amount of aircraft needed to deliver aid to remote areas cut off by landslides.’
   • ‘The Government must consider giving financial aid to rural traditional medicine centres which have been operating in the State since time immemorial.’
   • ‘The Wroughton-based appeal has collected and distributed hundreds of palettes of aid to disaster struck areas since the tsunami hit on December 26.’
   • ‘It's a difficult environment at the best of times, but with roads cut, delivering aid to needy areas is proving to be a challenge.’
   • ‘The federal government should be leading and offering financial aid to the provinces for the purpose of qualifying the skilled people who are already in our midst.’
   • ‘The bad weather also blocked roads and grounded helicopters as troops raced against the approaching Himalayan winter to ferry aid to remote areas.’
   • ‘In 1998, the Government provided significant financial aid to farmers.’
   • ‘Gerson said rescue workers were facing difficulties in getting aid to isolated areas due to the absence of air transportation.’
   • ‘To propose that the government of a third world country is not acting fast enough to send aid to certain areas is incredibly unfair.’
   Synonyms

   donations, funding, contributions, subsidies, benefits, welfare, gifts, grants, relief, charity, financial assistance, subvention, alms, offerings, handouts, largesse

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2. 1.2count noun A source of help or assistance.
   ‘exercise is an important aid to recovery after heart attacks’
   More example sentences

   • ‘a teaching aid’
   • ‘This allows the instructor to use the pistol as a teaching aid to show students where the sharp edges on their guns need to be relieved.’
   • ‘This is an aid to bring more security in the post-Cold War era.’
   • ‘Tools and training aids are available to assist your unit to train safety and succeed on the battlefield.’
   • ‘Grit is essential in most birds' diets, both as an aid to digestion and as a source of minerals.’
   • ‘The council justified its intervention on the basis that it had provided some aids to assist in the care of Mrs Z.’
   • ‘Baboo believes that research on retention will prove an effective aid to help colleges and universities do a better job with their minority students.’
   • ‘Initially many of us thought these rails were a nuisance and were too high for comfort, but experience has shown that they do make sense and are a real aid to safety and comfort in rough weather.’
   • ‘The underlining served as a memory aid to help students identify and retrieve the essential elements in the problem.’
   • ‘All the photographic technique is purely an aid to help the photographer get the image you want to show.’
   • ‘She finally reached the correct wall, the one beside the oak tree that would serve in concealing her as well as serving as an aid to help her up.’
   • ‘He achieved his circumnavigation without any electronic navigation aids or the assistance of modern satellite communication technology.’
   • ‘Residual low vision may be assisted with low vision aids and low vision training in activities of daily living.’
   • ‘During the Civil War, he was an indispensable aid to his father during the latter's tenure as Minister to England.’
   • ‘Providing navigational aids to assist users in finding information in hypertext systems has been an ongoing research problem for well over a decade.’
   • ‘The top-of-the-range model has been given sports suspension and equipped with all the electronic aids to assist the wayward driver.’
   • ‘A few students reported printing the images and using them instead of the computer assisted aids.’
   • ‘Student cooperatives were banned because, although recognized as an aid to poor students, they provided good places to exchange revolutionary opinions and leaflets.’
   • ‘Three types of teaching aids, too, are prepared by Prof. Murty to help teachers.’
   • ‘Today, it seems, the people of Terence Bay have won back the right to visit their local lighthouse, which the Coast Guard still maintains as an active aid to navigation.’
   • ‘This is clearly not an exercise for the short term while there is so much to do but by keeping donors engaged with the affected communities for longer, it could be a powerful aid to longer term reconstruction.’

2historical A grant of subsidy or tax to a king or queen.

1Help or support (someone or something) in the achievement of something.

1. 1.1Promote or encourage (something)
   ‘diet and exercise aid healthy skin’
   More example sentences

   • ‘It has been said the butter may reduce the risk of cancer because it contains healthy bacteria which aids digestion and boosts immune response.’
   • ‘Healthy teeth mean that the child is able to eat a healthy diet, and aid the growth of the jaw.’
   • ‘Fish oil aids memory and promotes mental acuity because it makes nerve-cell membranes more fluid and more reactive to signals.’
   • ‘Again, the media bears moral responsibility for promoting discussion that aids justice.’
   • ‘Tai Chi Wu Style is a craft that includes gentle stretching and breathing exercises that will aid balance, co-ordination and relax muscles.’
   • ‘Kate Morgan, Pembrokeshire County Council's food officer, says a healthy breakfast can aid concentration and mental performance, and provide energy.’
   • ‘Researchers believe exercise aids efforts to stop smoking.’
   • ‘This is an exercise that has aided many athletes in crucial situations in other sports.’
   • ‘A tailored exercise prescription, determined by exercise testing, can aid blood pressure reduction.’
   • ‘Finding effective ways to relax, such as devoting time for relaxation, taking yoga classes or fitting in gentle exercise, may aid the chances of conception.’
   • ‘A cut-and-paste exercise can greatly aid the student with memory work.’
   • ‘A physiotherapist will oversee and monitor all progress and explain knee exercises that will aid recovery.’
   • ‘Adding the right types of fats - healthy fats - to your diet can not only aid your fat loss but also help you put on muscle mass.’
   • ‘The guests were all kept on special diets to aid their recovery.’
   • ‘Investment in roads aids driver safety and facilitates improved industrial and tourism development.’
   • ‘Mr Naughton said the facilities to aid independent living in the Dublin region were fairly good but across the rest of the country they were poor.’
   • ‘It can also aid depression and boost energy levels.’
   • ‘Current evidence support the use of nutritional supplements to aid exercise performance and recovery.’
   • ‘It aids hundreds of former footballers, promotes educational and vocational training for a legion about to leave the game and has built a power-base as one of the strongest unions in sport.’
   • ‘And doing so will aid traditional culture in several ways.’
   Synonyms

   facilitate, promote, encourage, help, speed up, hasten, accelerate, expedite, further, boost, give a boost to, give a lift to, give a push to, spur on, clear the way for, smooth the way for

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1Artificial insemination by donor.

2Agency for International Development.