self-service

American  

[self-sur-vis] / ˈsɛlfˈsɜr vɪs /

Also self-serve

noun

1. the system of serving oneself in a restaurant, shop, gas station, or other facility, without the aid of a waiter, clerk, attendant, etc.

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adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a cafeteria, store, etc., designed for the patron or customer to gather food or merchandise from a display counter or shelves without the aid of attendants and pay at a cashier's desk upon leaving.

2. of, for, or pertaining to something designed to be used or enjoyed without the aid of an attendant.

   self-service banking; self-service elevators.

self-service British  

adjective

1. of or denoting a shop, restaurant, petrol station, etc, where the customer serves himself

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noun

1. the practice of serving oneself, as in a shop, etc

Etymology

Origin of self-service

First recorded in 1920–25

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

self-service

Target continues to grow its Roundel ad network, while Walmart completed its $1.4 billion acquisition of self-service streaming platform Vibe.co this month to build out Walmart Connect.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

The group is targeting around 100 to 110 net new shops in 2026 and trialling a "bitesize" format and a self-service "Greggs Express" format.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Novelties at Mayer am Nussberg that would have bamboozled Keller's ancestors include vegan food, alcohol-free wine -- of which Keller offers four sorts -- and self-service order touchscreens.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

Customer-service operations still rely heavily on underpaid and poorly trained humans, leading to general dissatisfaction across all service metrics, including wait times and repeat calls, with consumers increasingly resorting to equally unsatisfactory self-service alternatives.

From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026

After visiting san bernardino and seeing the long fines at McDonald’s, Carl Karcher went home to Anaheim and decided to open his own self-service restaurant.

From "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" by Eric Schlosser

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