Standing by; present; accompanying.Present to help; helpful; aiding or fitted to aid and support; auxiliary: with to.n. One who stands by; a bystander; one who takes part in anything: usually in the plural.n. One who stands by to help; one who helps; a helper; an auxiliary; specifically, one who is associated with another as an auxiliary in carrying on some systematic work or undertaking, or in discharging the duties of an office: as, the harbor-master and his assistants; a bookkeeper's assistant.n. An official auxiliary to the father-general of the Jesuits. Erroneously called adjutant-general.n. [Sp. asistente.] The chief officer of justice at Seville.n. In the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies, one of the elected councilors who constituted the governor's council and the upper house of the legislature. The number of assistants in the former was eighteen; in the latter, originally five, later seven.n. In dyeing, a substance, such as tartaric acid, acetate of lime, or sulphate of soda, added to the dye-bath, to effect a brightening of the color.Assisting; hence, subordinate in rank; specifically, as an official designation, occupying the next lower grade: as, an assistant adjutant-general.