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

This can take the form of external customers calling up service centers or filing tickets, or even internal help desk customers. —Megan Poinski, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024

People already at an airport usually go to an in-person help desk — but lines are long when there’s widespread disruptions. —Shawn Tully, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2024

The app marketplace is extensive, with plug-ins for external sales channels on social media, accounting tools, help desk tools, and even access to other sellers. —PCMAG, 8 Oct. 2024

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

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