- 1 a person who helps or supports somebody, usually in their job My assistant will now demonstrate the machine in action. a senior research assistant She works as a care assistant in an old people's home. see also graduate assistant, personal assistant, teaching assistant Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivechief, senior, deputy, … verb + assistantemploy (somebody as), have, get, … prepositionassistant to See full entry See related entries: Job titles, School life
- 2 (especially British English) = sales clerk, shop assistant an assistant in a department store Maybe one of our assistants can help you make your choice? Wordfindershopassistant, buy, counter, display, fitting room, promotion, sale, shop, store, till Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivechief, senior, deputy, … verb + assistantemploy (somebody as), have, get, … prepositionassistant to See full entry See related entries: In the store
- 3(British English) a student at university or college who spends time in a foreign country teaching his or her own language in a school See related entries: People in schools Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French, or from medieval Latin assistent- ‘taking one's stand beside’, from the verb assistere, from ad- ‘to, at’ + sistere ‘take one's stand’.Extra examples I’ll ask my personal assistant to deal with this. I’m getting a new assistant next month. She had a clerical assistant to do her paperwork. She is assistant to the Production Manager. She took up a post as research assistant in the Department of Pharmacology. As well as the class teacher there is a part-time teaching assistant. He worked as an assistant to the Sales Director. She works as a care assistant in a nursing home. She’s a sales assistant in a department store. a research/teaching assistant
noun jump to other results
BrE BrE//əˈsɪstənt//; NAmE NAmE//əˈsɪstənt//
People in schools, Job titles, In the store, School lifeCheck pronunciation: assistant
