subserve
verb (used with object)
to be useful or instrumental in promoting (a purpose, action, etc.).
have subserved
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present perfectof subserve.present perfect
Used to describe actions that started in the past and continue into or have direct relevance to the present.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We cannot but infer, from the pre-Adamic state of our world, that it must have subserved other purposes than to sustain its present inhabitants.
From The Religion of Geology and Its Connected Sciences by Edward Hitchcock
Old ideas linger after they have subserved their purposes.
From The Arena Volume 18, No. 93, August, 1897 by Various
For if the passage had only given the meridian plane, but without permitting the astronomer to observe the southing of any fixed star, it would have subserved only one-half its purposes as a meridional instrument.
From The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, September 1879 by Various
Could the apostles have subserved the cause of freedom more directly, intelligibly, and effectually, than to enjoin the principles, and sentiments, and habits, in which freedom consists—constituting its living root and fruitful germ!
From The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 4 of 4 by American Anti-Slavery Society
But they would subserve, they have subserved, the interests of a true national development.
From The Middle Period 1817-1858 by John William Burgess
