English Dictionary
help out
v : be of help, as in a particular situation of need; "Can you
help out tonight?"
English Computing Dictionary
shell out
[Unix] To spawn an interactive subshell from within a program
(e.g. a mailer or editor). "Bang foo runs foo in a subshell,
while bang alone shells out."
[{Jargon File}]
(1995-05-11)