helpline

noun

help·​line ˈhelp-ˌlīn 

 Southern often  ˈhep-,

 also  ˈheəp-

variants or less commonly help line

plural helplines also help lines

: a phone service providing help or assistance: such as

a

: a telephone service that is usually available to the public and that provides advice, support, resources, etc. for some specific purpose (such as crisis intervention)

a free/confidential/24-hour helpline

He's also a peer support specialist for DeQH, a helpline for South Asian LGBTQ people.

—Rose Brennan

Calls to state addiction help lines have risen, as have alcohol use, drug overdoses and relapse rates, experts have said.

—Steve Janoski

… helpline volunteers offer support and basic information, locate treatment options in your area, and can help you find answers to any questions you may have.

—Radhika Menon

b

: a customer service line to provide support (such as technical support) for a product, service, etc.

Before making your purchase, phone the software vendor's customer helpline to make sure customer representatives are knowledgeable.

—Eric Berg

A user's guide, software documentation, and telephone helpline are included.

—Carol Tenopir

All week, Mata and other staffers have spent hours calling help lines set up by drug plan providers, only to get constant busy signals.

—Nicole Foy

Examples of helpline in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Getting rid of the Social Security telephone helpline that assists millions of elderly and disabled benefit recipients (a recent DOGE outrage) would not have crossed the minds of anyone involved in the Clinton-era efforts. —Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2025

Lawmakers are proposing spending about $2 million to staff the helpline this year. —Alexandra Glorioso, Miami Herald, 28 Mar. 2025

John Moriarty, another U.S. traveller, listened attentively to his phone's speaker, hoping to get through to his airline's customer service helpline. —Catarina Demony, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2025

Those users would also be directed to helplines and other resources. —Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica, 20 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for helpline

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• byline
• canine