yeoman's service

American  

Or yeoman service

noun

1. good, useful, or workmanlike service.

   His trusty sword did him yeoman's service.

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Etymology

Origin of yeoman's service

First recorded in 1595–1605

Example Sentences

In honest truth, it will do me yeoman's service.

From Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume V (of 10) by Lockhart, J. G. (John Gibson)

Falkner’s fighting powers had done us yeoman’s service after all, was the thought that flashed through my mind—and then I saw that it was not so; that our respite was due to another cause.

From A Frontier Mystery by Mitford, Bertram

The two men did yeoman's service in carrying through the 1850 compromise, and afterward in persuading Georgia not to take part in the Nashville convention—a disunionist scheme which proved abortive.

From The Negro and the Nation A History of American Slavery and Enfranchisement by Merriam, George Spring

Then he threw aside books and gown and joined his four brothers in the Continental ranks, where he did yeoman's service for his country.

From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 26, July 1880. by Various

A better-coffee-making committee, under the direction of Edward Aborn of New York, rendered yeoman's service to the cause.

From All About Coffee by Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)