From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishalmsalms /ɑːmz $ ɑːmz, ɑːlmz/ noun [plural] literary MONEYGIVEmoney, food etc given to poor people in the past
Examples from the Corpus
alms• He saw himself returning as a beggar with limbs deliberately deformed, whining for alms on the sea-front at Bombay.• In addition, parish priests were feeling the pinch through reduced income from alms and tithes.• I gave alms to all the blind beggars, lit candles without believing at all in their efficacy.• And she heard the people, the shouting below, Rubberneck, full handfuls, dispensing her alms.• At first they were protected by Catholic rulers, and seen as penitents entitled to alms and succour.• The nuns were rewarded with alms and T-shirts, and broke into an appreciative chant as the cash was handed out.Origin alms Old English ælmesse, ælms, from Late Latin eleemosyna, from Greek, from eleos “pity” 