Idiom meaning, usage examples, facts

1. I need some help lifting these boxes. Who can give me a hand?
2. They gave him a hand with his rent and utility bills while he was unemployed.

The expression suggests that by giving someone a hand, one helps that person do more work than he could do with his own two hands. The expression is usually used in the sense of helping someone physically (opt.1) but it can also be used in a financial sense (opt.2).