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• service
  service

  noun

  an act of helpful activity; help; aid.
• Service
  Service

  noun

  Robert W(illiam), 1874–1958, Canadian writer, born in England.

service

¹ American  

[sur-vis] / ˈsɜr vɪs /

noun

1. an act of helpful activity; help; aid.

   to do someone a service.

2. the supplying or supplier of utilities or commodities, as water, electricity, or gas, required or demanded by the public.

3. the providing or a provider of accommodation and activities required by the public, as maintenance, repair, etc..

   The manufacturer guarantees service and parts.

4. the organized system of apparatus, appliances, employees, etc., for supplying some accommodation required by the public.

   a television repair service.

5. the supplying or a supplier of public communication and transportation: bus service.

   telephone service;

   bus service.

6. the performance of duties or the duties performed as or by a waiter or servant; occupation or employment as a waiter or servant.

7. employment in any duties or work for a person, organization, government, etc.

8. a department of public employment, an administrative division of a government, or the body of public servants in it.

   the diplomatic service.

9. the duty or work of public servants.

10. the serving of a sovereign, state, or government in some official capacity.

11. Military.

    1. the armed forces.

       in the service.

    2. a branch of the armed forces, as the army or navy.

       Which service were you in during the war?

12. Ordnance. the actions required in loading and firing a cannon.

    service of the piece.

13. Often services the performance of any duties or work for another; helpful or professional activity.

    medical services.

14. something made or done by a commercial organization for the public benefit and without regard to direct profit.

    Certain books are published at a loss as a public service.

15. Also called divine service.  public religious worship according to prescribed form and order.

16. a ritual or form prescribed for public worship or for some particular occasion.

    the marriage service.

17. the serving of God by obedience, piety, etc..

    voluntary service.

18. a musical setting of the sung portions of a liturgy.

19. a set of dishes, utensils, etc., for general table use or for particular use.

    a tea service;

    service for eight.

20. answering service.

21. Law. the serving of a process or writ upon a person.

22. Nautical. tarred spun yarn or other small stuff for covering the exterior of a rope.

23. (in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.)

    1. the act or manner of putting the ball or shuttlecock into play; serve.

    2. the ball or shuttlecock as put into play.

24. the mating of a female animal with the male.

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adjective

1. of service; useful.

2. of, relating to, or used by servants, delivery people, etc., or in serving food.

   service stairs;

   the service pieces in a set of dishes.

3. supplying aids or services rather than products or goods.

   Medicine is one of the service professions.

4. supplying maintenance and repair.

   He operates a service center for electrical appliances.

5. of, for, or pertaining to the armed forces of a country or one of them.

   a service academy.

6. charged for providing service.

   a service fee of 15 percent on the restaurant check.

7. providing, authorizing, or guaranteeing service: a service contract.

   a service industry;

   a service contract.

verb (used with object)

services, present (3rd person singular) serviced, past participle, past servicing present participle

1. to make fit for use; repair; restore to condition for service.

   to service an automobile.

2. to supply with aid, information, or other incidental services.

3. (of a male animal) to mate with (a female animal).

4. Finance. to pay off (a debt) over a period of time, as by meeting periodic interest payments.

idioms

1. at someone's service, ready to be of help or use to someone; at one's disposal.

   You will have an English-speaking guide at your service.

2. be of service, to be helpful or useful.

   If we can be of service, do not hesitate to call.

service ² American  

[sur-vis] / ˈsɜr vɪs /

noun

1. a European or North American service tree, especially Sorbus domestica.

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Service ³ American  

[sur-vis] / ˈsɜr vɪs /

noun

1. Robert W(illiam), 1874–1958, Canadian writer, born in England.

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service ¹ British  

/ ˈsɜːvɪs /

noun

1. an act of help or assistance

2. an organized system of labour and material aids used to supply the needs of the public

   telephone service

   bus service

3. the supply, installation, or maintenance of goods carried out by a dealer

4. the state of availability for use by the public (esp in the phrases into or out of service )

5. a periodic overhaul made on a car, machine, etc

6. the act or manner of serving guests, customers, etc, in a shop, hotel, restaurant, etc

7. a department of public employment and its employees

   civil service

8. employment in or performance of work for another

   he has been in the service of our firm for ten years

9. the work of a public servant

10. 1. one of the branches of the armed forces

    2. ( as modifier )

       service life

11. the state, position, or duties of a domestic servant (esp in the phrase in service )

12. the act or manner of serving food

13. a complete set of dishes, cups, etc, for use at table

14. public worship carried out according to certain prescribed forms

    divine service

15. the prescribed form according to which a specific kind of religious ceremony is to be carried out

    the burial service

16. a unified collection of musical settings of the canticles and other liturgical items prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer as used in the Church of England

17. sport

    1. the act, manner, or right of serving a ball

    2. Often shortened to: serve.  the game in which a particular player serves

       he has lost his service

18. (in feudal law) the duty owed by a tenant to his lord

19. the serving of a writ, summons, etc, upon a person

20. nautical a length of tarred marline or small stuff used in serving

21. (of male animals) the act of mating

22. (modifier) of, relating to, or for the use of servants or employees

23. (modifier) serving the public rather than producing goods

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verb

1. to provide service or services

2. to make fit for use

3. to supply with assistance

4. to overhaul (a car, machine, etc)

5. (of a male animal) to mate with (a female)

6. to meet interest and capital payments on (debt)

Service ² British  

/ 'sɜːvɪs /

noun

1. Robert ( William ). 1874–1958, Canadian poet, born in England; noted for his ballad-like poems of gold-rush era Yukon, such as 'The Shooting of Dan McGrew'; his books include Songs of a Sourdough (1907)

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service ³ British  

/ ˈsɜːvɪs /

noun

1. See service tree

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service More Idioms  

1. see at someone's service; break someone's serve (service); lip service; of service to someone; press into service.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unserviced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• servicing
  present
• serviced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• service
  simple
• services
  simple
• have serviced
  perfect
• has serviced
  perfect
• am servicing
  progressive
• are servicing
  progressive
• is servicing
  progressive
• have been servicing
  perfect progressive
• has been servicing
  perfect progressive

Past

• serviced
  simple
• had serviced
  perfect
• was servicing
  progressive
• were servicing
  progressive
• had been servicing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will service
  simple
• will have serviced
  perfect
• will be servicing
  progressive
• will have been servicing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of service¹

First recorded before 1100; Middle English (noun), from Old French, from Latin servitium “servitude,” equivalent to serv(us) “slave” + -itium noun suffix ( see -ice); replacing Middle English servise, late Old English serfise “ceremony,” from Old French servise, variant of service

Origin of service²

First recorded in 1520–30; earlier serves, plural of obsolete serve “service tree”; Middle English; Old English syrfe, from unattested Vulgar Latin sorbea, derivative of Latin sorbus sorb ¹

Explanation

If you perform duties that help someone else, you're providing a service. If you make dinner for your neighbor's children while she's in the hospital, you're doing a good service. Service has many uses, all having to do with serving someone, or doing something for them. In a restaurant the waiter provides service, and if you do something nice for someone, you've done him a good service. If you're in someone's service that means you work for her. Service can also mean a verb meaning "to fix," like when the maintenance whiz services the photocopier, or the mechanic services your car. In church, a ceremony is also called a service.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

service Service services serviced servicing

On an earnings call, Musk walked back earlier guidance on the rollout of its Robotaxi ride-hailing service, Optimus humanoid robots and an electric semi truck that has been in development for years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

The fire service said they were continuing to oversee conditions as a precaution, with teams from Mid and West Wales Fire Service on hand to help.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

The streaming service is available only in the U.S. and certain U.S. territories.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Four US service personnel killed in recent Iran-related attacks were honored this week as their remains returned to the United States in flag-draped cases.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

“Your call was the last one I got. There’s been no phone service ever since,” her mother said.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

They stopped at the site, which trains personnel from the British military and Civil Service as well as foreign students, for just 13 minutes and returned home the same day.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

The Secret Service has said it is dealing with an unprecedented number of threats against the people it protects, including President Donald Trump, who has escaped several assassination attempts.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

The head of the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano, has touted a record as a Wall Street fix-it man in his attempts to overhaul those two government agencies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service praised the women who spoke out against Robertson.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

We arrived first at the upper school campus, where Malia and I hustled past a gauntlet of news cameras and into the building, the two of us flanked by Secret Service agents.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

The AI model maker has formed a services company staffed with forward deployed engineers and a partnership program to help businesses get real value from their technology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

The European Commission imposed a €460m penalty after finding Google favoured its own services for helping people book flights and hotels over competitors in search results.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Tesla offers ride-hailing services in seven cities, all but one of which feature some unsupervised trips.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

The EU fined the US giant 460 million euros for illegally favouring the company's own services -- for example, Google Flights or Google Hotels -- over rivals in search results.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

The Maggie Fox who had once turned away customers now ran ads in the back pages of Spiritual newspapers offering her services to anyone who paid a dollar.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

In 2005, Green was managing the bus station at the airport and Urmston serviced the vending machines.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

High valuations and volatility are tolerable if funded by long-term equity capital — not borrowed money that must be serviced and repaid.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

He said: "This was a return from port where the boat was being serviced in Holland. It was not a fishing trip."

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

Helots fed these high-caste soldiers and serviced their every need; one source reports that each Spartan who went into battle against the Persians was attended by seven helots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026

It was a small port that serviced Imre, too small to have a name of its own.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

These include propulsion components, guidance and navigation systems, landing technologies, in space servicing, assembly and manufacturing, and energy management systems.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

“When you rely on passive income in retirement, servicing debt feels more expensive than when you earned income” from a job.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026

The amount of money that households are spending on servicing debt has risen since its pandemic-era lows, but remains quite small, relative to history.

From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026

LA Metro is adding about 300 buses to its regular fleet to handle the additional demand, with shuttles servicing nine direct routes to SoFi Stadium, the site of eight matches, and various fan zones.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026

All that was clear was that the profits to be had from smart people making complicated bets overwhelmed anything that could be had from servicing customers, or allocating capital to productive enterprise.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• account
• assistance
• benefit
• business
• duty
• employment
• maintenance
• office
• supply
• use
• utility
• work