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Glite Dictionary
helping

helping

5 1.0
An amount of food or drink served to one person at a meal
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛlpɪŋ/
translation icon : porción
  • At the family dinner, everyone enjoyed multiple helpings of pasta and salad.
  • second helpings
  • generous helpings
  • two helpings

Examples

  • I wasn't in training anymore and I had extra helpings of pinto beans and ham.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • He's had two helpings of everything.

    My Man Godfrey (1936)

  • Shouldn't have that third helping, but you still do.

  • Look, it says right here it's good for four helpings.

    Blue Collar (1978)

  • Instead, we had people coming up to ask for third, fourth, and fifth helpings!

    Blog text (2)

  • I made half of the recipe, which gave me two nice helpings.

    Blog text (17)

  • I only had five helpings of blackberry pie!

    Doctor Dolittle (1967)

  • Yet after the service, he ate three chicken drumsticks and two helpings of whipped potatoes.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I had three helpings of eggs and sausage; Sheena had two and a bowl of cereal.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Every now and then he asks Archie and me over for a meal, and gives us tiny helpings of frightfully dainty food with amusing sauces.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

serving
vshelping
104 1.0

An amount of food or drink for one person at a meal

does not stress being one item among others
portion
vshelping
61 1.3

An amount of food or drink served to one person

is identical in meaning and differs only as an alternative term

Idioms

to lend a helping hand
  • Informal
6 2.7

To give someone support with a task or problem

Compounds

helping hand
31 1.4

Someone who gives support when you need it

How Much

plateful
2 2.3
portion
61 1.3
helping
5 1.0
mouthful
59 1.6

Surface Forms

helping singular
helpings plural

Morphology

helping = help (opaque) = help + ing

Although the word is formally built from help + -ing, the food-serving sense is lexicalized and not straightforwardly predictable from the modern meaning of help.

Etymology

Helping comes from the verb help ('to give help' or 'support') plus the ending -ing, and it began as something someone 'helps' you with. Think of a friend at the table who helps by giving you food — that portion is a helping, which is why the word now means a serving of food.