What is "assist"

Assist \As*sist"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assisted; p. pr. & vb. n. Assisting.] [L. assistere; ad + sistere to cause to stand, to stand, from stare to stand: cf. F. assister. See Stand.] To give support to in some undertaking or effort, or in time of distress; to help; to aid; to succor.

Assist me, knight. I am undone!
--Shak.

Syn: To help; aid; second; back; support; relieve; succor; befriend; sustain; favor. See Help.

Assist \As*sist"\, v. i.

1. To lend aid; to help.

   With God not parted from him, as was feared, But favoring and assisting to the end.
   --Milton.

2. To be present as a spectator; as, to assist at a public meeting. [A Gallicism]
   --Gibbon. Prescott.

early 15c., from Middle French assister "to stand by, help, put, place, assist" (14c.), from Latin assistere "stand by, take a stand near, attend," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + sistere "stand still, take a stand; to set, place, cause to stand," from PIE *si-st-, reduplicated form of root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Related: Assisted; assisting. Medical assisted suicide attested from 1884.

1570s, "an act of assistance," from assist (v.). In the sporting sense attested 1877 in baseball, 1925 in ice hockey.

n. 1 A helpful action or an act of giving. 2 (context sports English) A statistic used in different sports to quantify the act of helping another player score points or goals; in baseball, an assist is defensive, allowing a teammate to record a putout. vb. 1 (label en archaic) To stand (at a place) or to (an opinion). 2 (label en archaic) To attend {{qualifier|with ''(l en at)''}} 3 To help.

1. n. the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose; "he gave me an assist with the housework"; "could not walk without assistance"; "rescue party went to their aid"; "offered his help in unloading" [syn: aid, assistance, help]

2. (sports) the act of enabling another player to make a good play

3. v. give help or assistance; be of service; "Everyone helped out during the earthquake"; "Can you help me carry this table?"; "She never helps around the house" [syn: help, aid]

4. act as an assistant in a subordinate or supportive function

5. work for or be a servant to; "May I serve you?"; "She attends the old lady in the wheelchair"; "Can you wait on our table, please?"; "Is a salesperson assisting you?"; "The minister served the King for many years" [syn: serve, attend to, wait on, attend]

ASSIST (the Assembler System for Student Instruction and Systems Teaching) is an IBM System/370-compatible assembler and interpreter developed in the 1970s at Penn State University by Graham Campbell and John Mashey plus student assistants. Originally, ASSIST was available only to universities and was implemented at several hundreds of them, but was occasionally used elsewhere. In 1998, Penn State declared that ASSIST was no longer copyrighted and that the program was freely available.

In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal. The assists will be awarded in the order of play, with the last player to pass the puck to the goal scorer getting the primary assist and the player who passed it to the primary assister getting the secondary assist. Players who gain an assist will get one point added to their player statistics.

In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads to a score by field goal, meaning that he or she was "assisting" in the basket. There is some judgment involved in deciding whether a passer should be credited with an assist. An assist can be scored for the passer even if the player who receives the pass makes a basket after dribbling the ball. However, the original definition of an assist did not include such situations, so the comparison of assist statistics across eras is a complex matter.

Only the pass directly before the score may be counted as an assist, so no more than one assist can be recorded per field goal (unlike in other sports, such as ice hockey). A pass that leads to a shooting foul and scoring by free throws does not count as an assist in the NBA, but does in FIBA play (only one assist is awarded per set of free throws in which at least one free throw is made).

Point guards tend to get the most assists per game (apg), as their role is primarily that of a passer and ballhandler. Centers tend to get fewer assists, but centers with good floor presence and court vision can dominate a team by assisting. Being inside the key, the center often has the best angles and the best position for "dishes" and other short passes in the scoring area. Center Wilt Chamberlain led the NBA in assists in 1968. A strong center with inside-scoring prowess, such as former NBA center Hakeem Olajuwon, can also be an effective assistor because the defense's double-teaming tends to open up offense in the form of shooters.

The NBA single-game assist record is 30, held by Scott Skiles of the Orlando Magic against the Denver Nuggets, on December 30, 1990.

The NBA record for most career assists is held by John Stockton, with 15,806, and the highest assist per game average in NBA history is held by Magic Johnson, with 11.2.

Assist or ASSIST may refer to:

ASSIST (American Secondary Schools for International Students and Teachers) is a nonprofit, international student exchange organization based in the United States and active in more than twenty countries worldwide. ASSIST places academically and extracurricularly excelling international students on one-year merit-based scholarships at leading American independent secondary schools.

In baseball, an assist (denoted by A) is a defensive statistic, baseball being one of the few sports in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is credited to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball (after it has been hit by the batter) prior to the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional. For example, if a ball strikes a player's leg and bounces off him to another fielder, who tags the baserunner, the first player is credited with an assist. A fielder can receive a maximum of one assist per out recorded. An assist is also credited if a putout would have occurred, had another fielder not committed an error. For example, a shortstop might field a ground ball cleanly, but the first baseman might drop his throw. In this case, an error would be charged to the first baseman, and the shortstop would be credited with an assist.

If a pitcher records a strikeout where the third strike is caught by the catcher, the pitcher is not credited with an assist. However, if the batter becomes a baserunner on a dropped third strike and the pitcher is involved in recording a putout by fielding the ball and either tagging the runner out or throwing to first base for the out, the pitcher is credited with an assist just as any other fielder would be.

Assists are an important statistic for outfielders, as a play often occurs when a baserunner on the opposing team attempts to advance on the basepaths when the ball is hit to the outfield (even on a caught fly ball that results in an out; see tag up). It is the outfielder's job to field the ball and make an accurate throw to another fielder who is covering the base before the runner reaches it. The fielder then attempts to tag the runner out. This is especially important if the runner was trying to reach home plate, as the assist and tag prevent the baserunner from scoring a run. Assists are much rarer for outfielders than infielders (with the exception of first basemen) because the play is harder to make, and also because outfielder assist situations occur less often than the traditional ground-ball assist for a shortstop, second baseman, or third baseman. However, as a result, outfield assists are worth far more than infield assists, and tell more about an outfielder's throwing arm than infielder assists do.

In recent years, some sabermetricians have begun referring to assists by outfielders as baserunner kills. Some sabermetricians are also using baserunner holds as a statistic to measure outfield arms. A baserunner hold occurs when the baserunner does not attempt to advance an extra base on an outfielder out of concern of being thrown out by a strong, accurate throw. This can be combined with baserunner kills for better accuracy, as runners often do not try for an extra base when an outfielder with an excellent arm is playing.

In association football, an assist is a contribution by a player which helps to score a goal. Statistics for assists made by players may be kept officially by the organisers of a competition, or unofficially by, for example, journalists or organisers of fantasy football competitions. Recording assists is not part of the official Laws of the Game and the criteria for an assist to be awarded may vary. Record of assists was virtually not kept at all until the end of the 20th century, although reports of matches commonly described a player as having "made" one or more goals. Since the 1990s, some leagues have kept official record of assists and based awards on them.

The Scientology Assist is a procedure claimed to alleviate "a present time [current] discomfort" or bring a person who has recently died back to life.

Assists are claimed to address the spirit, the person themselves, in bringing about a speedier recovery from illness and injury. For this reason it is made very clear that Assists do not "heal the body", it is the spirit that helps heal the body and that is what assists are actually addressing and there are many records where parishioners of the Church have attested to their effectiveness either receiving or administering them.

There are many different types of Assists that anyone can easily and swiftly learn to do at home for aiding recovery of all manner of illnesses, accidents and injuries and even domestic upsets, of any and all age groups including babies and even pets. There are also assists to, Scientologists believe, help make someone sober or recover from the loss of a loved one.

No drugs or medication is used. They are not intended to replace competent professional medical treatment, which is why they are correctly called ASSISTS and not "medicine" or "healing". They are thought to assist the ill or injured person themselves to recover more swiftly in the way they were designed and prescribed, as well as in conjunction with competent professional medical treatment where necessary. Assists can and often are administered without any medical treatment necessary, but does not replace it when it is necessary.

Thousands of examples of miraculous results of Assists are claimed.

The Church and its founder have been accused of unauthorized "healing" or "practicing medicine" (i.e. addressing the body) with Assists, when internal publications within the Church on Assist procedure state this is not the case.

In the past, the Church of Scientology has received negative attention from law enforcement and regulatory agencies for practicing medicine without proper licensing. Thus, even though assists are intended to treat pain, injuries, and even death, modern Church of Scientology publications are careful to note that they are not intended to replace medicine, since it often goes against current scientific understanding of the subject and may result in direct conflict with the relevant authorities.

As the Scientology Handbook (1994 edition) states, "Medical examination and diagnosis should be sought where needed, and where treatment is routinely successful, medical treatment should be obtained. An assist is not a substitute for medical treatment and does not attempt to cure injuries requiring medical aid, but is complementary (adds) to it."