help desk

noun

plural help desks

: a department or person that provides assistance and information usually for electronic or computer problems

Adding a work account is easier than it used to be, but if you're a technophobe, or if your company requires special security settings, call your help desk.

—Jeremy Caplan

—often hyphenated when used before another noun

help-desk questions

Pleas to reset forgotten passwords account for half of help-desk calls to Web sites, says RSA Security.

—Victoria Murphy Barret

Examples of help desk in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For many in the U.S. government, cybersecurity has been seen as a matter for the IT help desk to address. —Michèle A. Flournoy, Foreign Affairs, 14 Aug. 2018

Instead of calling the help desk, the imposter’s location would be checked. —Bojan Šimić, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024

Like last year, many airports are still facing staff shortages, which can cause backups at the security queue as well as at check-in counters and help desks. —Ramsey Qubein, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 May 2023

In a major cyberattack last year, perpetrators impersonated an employee during a help desk call to obtain valid credentials to access and infect systems. —Lisa Rabasca Roepe, Forbes, 12 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

help desk

noun

: a department or person that provides help or information usually for electronic or computer problems