Definition of "succour"
succour
noun
countable and uncountable, plural succours
(uncountable) Aid, assistance, or relief given to one in distress; ministration.
Quotations
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.
1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Februarie. Aegloga Se[c]unda.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […]; republished as The Shepheardes Calender […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], 1586, folio 6, verso
[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.
1588, G. D., A Briefe Discoverie of Doctor Allens Seditious Drifts, Contriued in a Pamphlet Written by Him, Concerning the Yeelding Vp of the Towne of Deuenter, (in Ouerrissel) vnto the King of Spain, by Sir William Stanley. […], London: Imprinted by I. W. for Francis Coldock, pages 20–21
Bring vs where we may reſt our ſelues, and feed: / Here's a yong maid with trauaile much oppreſſed, / And faints for ſuccour.
c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene iv], page 192, column 1
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.
1623 (first performance), John Fletcher, William Rowley, “The Maid in the Mill”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, Act IV, scene ii, page 18, column 1
We sing alone and together for joy, love, enlightenment or entertainment; out of grief, or hate, or for emotional and spiritual succour in a musical manifestation of the human spirit.
2014, Jessica O’Bryan, Scott D. Harrison, “Prelude: Positioning Singing Pedagogy in the Twenty-first Century”, in Scott D. Harrison, Jessica O’Bryan, editors, Teaching Singing in the 21st Century (Landscapes: The Arts, Aesthetics, and Education; 14), Dordrecht, Heidelberg: Springer, abstract, page 1
(uncountable, military) Aid or assistance in the form of military equipment and soldiers, especially reinforcements sent to support military action.
Quotations
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; [...]
1690, indicated as Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher [actually John Fletcher and Philip Massinger, and revised by Thomas Betterton], The Prophetess: Or, The History of Dioclesian. [...] With Alterations and Additions, after the Manner of an Opera. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], act IV, scene i, page 43
[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, [...]
1741, unknown [formerly attributed to Daniel Defoe], The Life and Adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies, the British Amazon, commonly called Mother Ross: […], 2nd edition, London: Printed for R[ichard] Montagu, part II, page 2
[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.
1747, [George Sale [et al.]], “Sect. III. The History of the Several States of Greece, from the Beginning of the Achæan League to Its Dissolution, and thence Succinctly to the Present Time. [The History of Achaia.]”, in An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time. […], volume VII, London: Printed for T[homas] Osborne, […]; A[ndrew] Millar, […]; and J Osborn, […], book II (The Grecian and Asiatic History), page 228
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, [...]
1805, Robert Henry, “The Civil and Military History of Great Britain, from the Death of King John, A.D. 1216, to the Accession of Henry IV. A.D. 1399”, in The History of Great Britain from the First Invasion of It by the Romans under Julius Cæsar. Written on a New Plan, 4th edition, volume VII, London: Printed for T[homas] Cadell, and W[illiam] Davies, […], section IV ([F]rom the Accession of Edward III. 24th January A.D. 1327, to the Accession of Richard II. 21st June A.D. 1377), page 224
(uncountable, obsolete except dialectal) Protection, refuge, shelter; (countable) a place providing such protection, refuge or shelter.
Quotations
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.
1580, Thomas Tusser, “Decembers Husbandrie”, in Fiue Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie: […], London: […] Henrie Denham [beeing the assigne of William Seres] […]; republished as W[illiam] Payne and Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editors, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], 1878, stanza 22, page 64
verb
third-person singular simple present succours, present participle succouring, simple past and past participle succoured
(transitive) To give aid, assistance, or help.
Quotations
[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. 1530, John Skelton, “A Little Boke of Philip Sparow”, in The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper; […] In Twenty-one Volumes, volume II, London: Printed for J[oseph] Johnson [et al.], published 1810, page 297, column 1
[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.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, stanza 31, page 227
Say to the true believers, Sufficeth it not, that God succoreth you with three thousand of his angels? Truly, if you have patience, and fear God, he will come to succor you at need, and your Lord will assist you with five thousand of his angels sent from heaven; [...]
1835, “Chapter III. Entitled, the Lineage of Joachim, […]”, in The Koran, Commonly Called the Alcoran of Mahomet. Translated from the Arabic— […], Lancaster, Pa.: Printed for the publisher, by Boswell & M’Cleery, […], page 70
Not him alone, who seeks thy clemency, / Thou succorest, but oftentimes in sooth, / Outrunnest prayer with liberality.
1854, Dante [Alighieri], “Canto XXXIII”, in C[harles] B[agot] Cayley, transl., Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Paradise: Translated in the Original Ternary Rhyme, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, page 245, lines 16–18
Mark did actually feel that he was being suffocated, and the silence of the waiting congregation roared in his ears like a flood of waters. [...] His heart beat with such violence that, when he fought his way up and out of the great whirlpool and beheld again the pale, upturned features of his listeners flickering in the homely gaslight, he was astonished that their hands were not stretched out to succour him.
1923, Compton Mackenzie, “The First Sermon”, in The Parson’s Progress, London, New York, N.Y.: Cassell and Company, page 23
On April 28 the Prince of Wales [later George V] unveiled in Brussels the British monument "offered [as he expressed it] by the British nation as a symbol of its deep and unchanging gratitude towards all those who succoured our prisoners of war and our soldiers in distress."
1923 May 5, “‘British Gratitude to Belgium’: The Prince in Brussels”, in The Illustrated London News, London: Illustrated London News and Sketch, page 752, column 1
He [Charlemagne] was very forward in succoring the poor, and in that gratuitous generosity which the Greeks call alms, so much so that he not only made a point of giving in his own country and his own kingdom, but when he discovered that there were Christians living in poverty in Syria, Egypt, and Africa, at Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Carthage, he had compassion on their wants, and used to send money over the seas to them.
1960, Einhard, translated by Samuel Epes Turner, The Life of Charlemagne (Ann Arbor Paperbacks; AA35), Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, published 1991, paragraph XXVII, page 55
What heaven succours it protects with the gift of compassion.
1963, [Laozi], chapter LXVII, in D. C. Lau [i.e., Din-cheuk Lau], transl., Tao Te Ching (Penguin Classics; L131), Harmondsworth, London: Penguin Books; Tao Te Ching (Chinese Classics), 2nd edition, Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1989 (1996 printing), book 2, paragraph 165, page 101
The [Holy] Spirit takes on Himself a part of the burden, by which our weakness is oppressed; so that He not only helps and succors us but lifts us up, as though He went under the burden with us.
2019 November, John Calvin, “July 15: Supported by God’s Hands”, in Susan Hill, compiler, Captivating Grace: 365 Devotions for the Reformed Thinker, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan
(transitive, military) To provide aid or assistance in the form of military equipment and soldiers; in particular, for helping a place under siege.
Quotations
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.
1584, “Gruffyth the Sonne of Lhewelyn ap Sitsylht and Angharat”, in H. Lhoyd [i.e., Humphrey Llwyd], transl., edited by David Powel, The Historie of Cambria, now Called VVales: A Part of the Most Famous Yland of Brytaine, Written in the Brytish Language aboue Two Hundreth Yeares past: Translated into English […], imprinted at London: By Rafe Newberie and Henrie Denham, pages 98–99
1788 May 23, “Copy of the Treaty of Defensive Alliance with Holland”, in [William Cobbett], editor, The Parliamentary History of England, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803. […], volume XXVII, London: Printed by T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, […] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown; [et al.], published 1816, columns 553–554
[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.
1824, [Eliza Lanesford Cushing], chapter IV, in Saratoga; a Tale of the Revolution. [...] In Two Volumes, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Published by Cummings, Hilliard & Co., page 65
(transitive, obsolete except dialectal) To protect, to shelter; to provide a refuge.
Quotations
By this River ſide in the medow, there were Cotes and Folds for Sheep, [...] [B]y theſe Waters they might be houſed, harboured, suckered, and nouriſhed, [...]
1684, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress. From This World to That which is to Come: The Second Part. […], London: […] Nathaniel Ponder […]; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress as Originally Published by John Bunyan: Being a Fac-simile Reproduction of the First Edition, London: Elliot Stock […], 1875, page 157