civil service

American  

noun

1. those branches of public service concerned with all governmental administrative functions outside the armed services.

2. the body of persons employed in these branches.

3. a system or method of appointing government employees on the basis of competitive examinations, rather than by political patronage.

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civil service British  

noun

1. the service responsible for the public administration of the government of a country. It excludes the legislative, judicial, and military branches. Members of the civil service have no official political allegiance and are not generally affected by changes of governments

2. the members of the civil service collectively

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civil service Cultural  

1. The nonmilitary personnel who work for a government, applying its laws and regulations.

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Etymology

Origin of civil service

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

Anthony Littler, a quiet man of simple routines, was 6ft 4ins, worked in the civil service and lived in a flat in East Finchley, north London.

From BBC • Jul. 10, 2026

Charles Dickens’s “Little Dorrit” mocked the civil service with the fictional Circumlocution Office, which was dedicated to the science of “how not to do it.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 6, 2026

Does it extend to the civil service as a whole?

From Slate • Jul. 6, 2026

Radical reform was required to rebuild the civil service and replace its patronage system with open competition.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 6, 2026

He took factory jobs and minor civil service positions and eventually became a bouncer in a bar on Long Island, which was his principal occupation for much of his adult years.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• administration
• authority
• management
• ministry
• red tape