auxiliary
1aux·il·ia·ry
adj\ȯg-ˈzil-yə-rē, -ˈzil-rē, -ˈzi-lə-\
Definition of AUXILIARY
1
a : offering or providing help b : functioning in a subsidiary capacity <an auxiliary branch of the state university>
2
of a verb : accompanying another verb and typically expressing person, number, mood, or tense
3
a : supplementary b : constituting a reserve <an auxiliary power plant>
4
: equipped with sails and a supplementary inboard engine <an auxiliary sloop>
Examples of AUXILIARY
- a sailboat with an auxiliary engine
- <the auditorium has an auxiliary cooling system used only on particularly sweltering days>
- Travelers have also been griping about a lack of air-conditioning while planes are on the tarmac—even after delays stretch for hours. Airlines blame the problem on a breakdown of a plane's auxiliary power unit. —Darren Everson, Wall Street Journal, 8 Aug. 2007
- However, on March 1, 1896, Italian forces underwent a stunning defeat at Adwa, where they fought against the warriors of the Abyssinian emperor, Menelik. Some five thousand Italian troops and two thousand native auxiliary troops had been killed or captured, and the colony had been lost. —Mirella Tenderini et al., The Duke of the Abruzzi, 1997
- The rotund 6'1", 235-pound object of their affections hasn't played a day of major league baseball, he dresses in the auxiliary locker room, and he isn't even listed on Boston's 40-man roster. But after a resplendent summer last year at Triple A Pawtucket and a winter of panegyrics from a giddy Boston press, first baseman Maurice Samuel (Mo) Vaughn, 23, has arrived as a “real” rookie who everyone in Red Sox-land hopes is the real thing. —Nicholas Dawidoff, Sports Illustrated, 1 Apr. 1991
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Origin of AUXILIARY
Latin auxiliaris, from auxilium help; akin to Latin augēre to increase — more at eke
First Known Use: 15th century
Related to AUXILIARY
Related Words: backup, makeshift, substitute; added, additional, another, further; complementary, contributory; adjuvant, assistant, assisting, helping, supportive, tributary; secondary, subordinate, subservient, subsidiary; dispensable, excess, nonessential, superfluous, surplus, unessential
Near Antonyms: basic, fundamental, primary, prime; all-important, essential, imperative, indispensable, integral, necessary, needed, needful, required, requisite, vital
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