succour

noun

1. (uncountable)Aid, assistance, or relief given to one in distress; ministration.

   “Now ſtands the Brere like a Lord alone, / Puffed up with pryde and vaine pleaſaunce: / But all this glee had no continuaunce. / For eftſoones Winter gan to approche, / The bluſtring Boreas did encroche, / And beate upon the ſolitarie Brere: / For nowe no ſuccour was ſeene him neere.”

   “His hand, that oft the enemy did lame, / He reach't to thoſe whoſe ſuccors were diſmayde; [...]”

   “[I]f it be lawfull for the ſubject, for religiõ [i.e., religion] to beare armes againſt his ſouereigne: then it is much more lawfull for an abſolute Prince, for Religiõ alſo to yeeld ſuccours to her diſtreſſed neighbors, againſt a Stranger.”

   “Bring vs where we may reſt our ſelues, and feed: / Here's a yong maid with trauaile much oppreſſed, / And faints for ſuccour.”

   “Wee'll take up cudgels, and have one bowt with 'em, / They ſhall know nothing of this union: / And till they find themſelves moſt deſperate, / Succour ſhall never ſee 'em.”

2. (uncountable)Aid or assistance in the form of military equipment and soldiers, especially reinforcements sent to support military action.

   “Then Diocleſian, / Calling aloud for Succour to the Guard, / Soon gave 'em the Alarm, and made 'em fly / With all the Wings of Speed, to reſcue 'em; [...]”

   “[T]he Allies having raiſed the Siege of Barcelona, penetrated as far as Madrid, which King Philip abandon'd and went to Head the Succours ſent him by France, as he declared in his Manifeſto: which Succours were ſo conſiderable, that being join'd with the Troops that had been compell'd to raiſe the Siege of Barcelona, and had marched through Navarre into Caſtile; his Army was ſtronger than that of the Allies, [...]”

   “[T]he Megalopolitans decreed to ſend embaſſadors to the aſſembly of the Achæans, begging leave to ſolicit ſuccours from Antigonus. [...] The general aſſembly, having given audience to the embaſſadors, and reflecting, that they were not in a condition to yield them any effectual ſuccours, by reaſon of their great ſtreights, aſſented to their propoſal, and granted them leave to purſue their orders.”

   “In this critical moment the counteſs mounted a high tower, and looking eagerly towards the ſea, diſcerned a fleet at a diſtance; upon which ſhe cried out in a tranſport of joy, Succours! ſuccours! the English ſuccours! no capitulation. She was not miſtaken: the Engliſh fleet ſoon after entered the harbour, [...]”

3. (uncountable)Protection, refuge, shelter; (countable) a place providing such protection, refuge or shelter.

   “The gilleflower also, the skilful doe knowe, / doe looke to be couered, in frost and in snowe. / The knot, and the border, and rosemarie gaie, / do craue the like succour for dieng awaie.”

verb

1. (transitive)To give aid, assistance, or help.

   “[M]y maystres / Of whome I thinke / With pen and ynke / For to compyle / Some goodly stile / For thys moste goodly floure / The blossom of fresh colour / So Jupiter me succour”

   “[A]s that famous Queene / Of Amazons, whom Pyrrhus did deſtroy, / The day that firſt of Priame ſhe was ſeene, / Did ſhew her ſelfe in great triumphant ioy, / To ſuccour the weake ſtate of ſad afflicted Troy.”

   “For in that he himſelfe [Jesus Christ] hath ſuffered, being tempted, he is able to ſuccour them that are tempted.”

   “For wee haue helpe from heauen that ſuccoureth vs, ſo as we are deliuered from our enemies, and our enemies are brought vnder foote.”

   “[T]hou keepeſt thy Flock under the ſhadow of thy Wing, and nouriſheſt them with the choiceſt Food; thou guideſt with the hand of thy Power, and ſuccoureſt them at every needful time, and thou relieveſt their greateſt wants: [...]”

2. (transitive)To provide aid or assistance in the form of military equipment and soldiers; in particular, for helping a place under siege.

   “Shortlie after, Algar Earle of Cheſter, being conuicted of treaſon againſt the king, fled to Gruffyth king or prince of VVales, who gathered his power to reuenge the often wrongs, which he had receiued at the Engliſhmens hands, who euer ſuccoured his enimies againſt him.”

   “Mr. Pitt [i.e., William Pitt the Younger] presented, by his Majesty's command, a copy of the defensive alliance between his Majesty and the States General of the United Provinces, signed at the Hague, the 15th of April 1788; and translation. [...] Art 2. In case either of the high contracting parties should be hostilely attacked by any European Power in any part of the world whatsoever, the other contracting party engages to succour its ally as well by sea as by land, [...]”

   “[A] shout of joy burst from the despairing remnant of Major Courtland's troops, and a reinforcement of British rushed through the narrow defile to succour their exhausted comrades.”

3. (transitive)To protect, to shelter; to provide a refuge.

   “By this River ſide in the medovv, there vvere Cotes and Folds for Sheep, […] [B]y theſe VVaters they might be houſed, harboured, ſuckered, and nouriſhed, […]”