serve

[ surv ]

/ sɜrv /

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See synonyms for: serve / served / serving on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), served, serv·ing.

to act as a servant.

to wait on table, as a waiter.

to offer or have a meal or refreshments available, as for patrons or guests: Come early, we're serving at six.

to offer or distribute a portion or portions of food or a beverage, as a host or hostess: It was her turn to serve at the faculty tea.

to render assistance; be of use; help.

to go through a term of service, do duty as a soldier, sailor, senator, juror, etc.

to have definite use: This cup will serve as a sugar bowl.

to answer the purpose: That will serve to explain my actions.

(in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.) to put the ball or shuttlecock in play with a stroke, swing, or hit.

to be favorable, suitable, or convenient, as weather or time.

Ecclesiastical. to act as a server.

verb (used with object), served, serv·ing.

to be in the service of; work for.

to be useful or of service to; help.

to go through (a term of service, imprisonment, etc.).

to render active service to (a sovereign, commander, etc.).

to render obedience or homage to (God, a sovereign, etc.).

to perform the duties of (a position, an office, etc.): to serve his mayoralty.

to answer the requirements of; suffice: This will serve our needs for the moment.

to contribute to; promote: to serve a cause.

to wait upon at table; act as a waiter or waitress to.

to carry and distribute (portions of food or drink) to a patron or a specific table, as a waiter or waitress.

to act as a host or hostess in offering (a person) a portion of food or drink: May I serve you with some tea and cake?

to act as a host or hostess in offering or distributing (a portion or portions of food or drink) to another: They served tea and cake to their guests.

to provide with a regular or continuous supply of something.

(in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.) to put (the ball or shuttlecock) in play.

to treat in a specified manner: That served him ill.

Law.

to make legal delivery of (a process or writ).
to present (a person) with a writ.

to gratify (desire, wants, needs, etc.).

(of a male animal) to mate with; service.

to operate or keep in action (a gun, artillery, etc.).

Nautical. to wrap (a rope) tightly with small stuff, keeping the turns as close together as possible.

noun

the act, manner, or right of serving, as in tennis.

OTHER WORDS FOR serve

1, 2 attend.

5 aid, succor.

See synonyms for serve on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

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There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about serve

serve one right, to treat one as one deserves, especially to punish justly: It will serve you right if she never speaks to you again.

Origin of serve

1125–75; Middle English serven<Old French servir<Latin servīre, equivalent to serv(us) slave (cf. serf) + -īre infinitive suffix

OTHER WORDS FROM serve

serv·a·ble, serve·a·ble, adjectiveo·ver·serve, verb (used with object)un·der·served, adjectiveun·serv·a·ble, adjective

un·served, adjectivewell-served, adjective

Words nearby serve

serum sickness, serv., serval, servant, servant church, serve, serve a purpose, serve one right, server, servery, serve time

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use serve in a sentence

Logan and I seemed to be good teammates—he was scratching the surface of what would later be a nasty serve, and I liked to relive my baseball-playing glory days by diving for a loose ball whenever possible.
Spikeball Is the Perfect Pandemic Activity|smurguia|August 10, 2021|Outside Online
Nadal’s opponents can’t seem to do the same thing to him with their serve plus one.
Rafael Nadal Dominates The Third Shot Of A Point|Amy Lundy|June 7, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
First, when serving, he’s winning the point on his first shot after the serve, a term that in recent years has come to be called “serve plus one.”
Rafael Nadal Dominates The Third Shot Of A Point|Amy Lundy|June 7, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Nadal produced eight winners and drew 17 errors from Djokovic on the serve plus one.
Rafael Nadal Dominates The Third Shot Of A Point|Amy Lundy|June 7, 2021|FiveThirtyEight

When Djokovic was serving, he hit six winners and drew only a single error from Nadal using his serve plus one.
Rafael Nadal Dominates The Third Shot Of A Point|Amy Lundy|June 7, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Placed in drinking water, fluoride can serve people who otherwise have poor access to dental care.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice turned herself in to serve a 15-month sentence for bankruptcy fraud.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’|Michael Howard|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Serve with the warm sauce and your choice of ice cream, whipped cream, or yogurt.
Make ‘The Chew’s’ Carla Hall’s Sticky Toffee Pudding|Carla Hall|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Krivov was sentenced to serve four years at a general regime penal colony for his fight for freedom and human rights.
Behind Bars for the Holidays: 11 Political Prisoners We Want to See Free In 2015|Movements.Org|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But as we are seeing all over the world, one can serve the other.
France’s Wave of Crazy-Terror Christmas Attacks|Christopher Dickey|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
These Rules (leaving out the Tenor) serves for five bells; and leaving out the fifth and Tenor, they serve for four bells.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman
She had carried the baby over to Juana's and left her there, that she might be free to serve the Father's supper.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
He shall serve among great men, and appear before the governor.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
There are four general forms of emphasis which serve as indications of the characteristics of expression.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
The lower class were idle and lazy, and willing to serve any sovereign who appealed to them by ostentation.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison

British Dictionary definitions for serve

serve

/ (sɜːv) /

verb

to be in the service of (a person)

to render or be of service to (a person, cause, etc); help

(in a shop) to give (customers) information about articles for sale and to hand over articles purchased

(tr) to provide (guests, customers, etc) with food, drink, etcshe served her guests with cocktails

to distribute or provide (food, drink, etc) for guests, customers, etcdo you serve coffee?

(tr sometimes foll by up) to present (food, drink, etc) in a specified mannercauliflower served with cheese sauce

(tr) to provide with a regular supply of

(tr) to work actively forto serve the government

(tr) to pay homage toto serve God

to answer the requirements of; suitthis will serve my purpose

(intr; may take an infinitive) to have a use; functionthis wood will serve to build a fire

to go through (a period of service, enlistment, imprisonment, etc)

(intr) (of weather, conditions, etc) to be favourable or suitable

Also: service (tr) (of a male animal) to copulate with (a female animal)

sport to put (the ball) into play

(intr) RC Church to act as server at Mass or other services

(tr) to deliver (a legal document, esp a writ or summons) to (a person)

to provide (a machine, etc) with an impulse or signal for control purposes or with a continuous supply of fuel, working material, etc

(tr) nautical to bind (a rope, spar, etc) with wire or fine cord to protect it from chafing, etcSee also seize (def. 8)

serve a person right informal to pay a person back, esp for wrongful or foolish treatment or behaviour

noun

sport short for service 1 (def. 17)

Australian a portion or helping of food or drink

Derived forms of serve

servable or serveable, adjective

Word Origin for serve

C13: from Old French servir, from Latin servīre, from servus a slave

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with serve

serve

In addition to the idioms beginning with serve

serve a purpose
serve one right
serve time
serve up

also see:

break someone's serve
first come, first served
hand to on a silver platter (serve up on a plate)

serve

OTHER WORDS FOR serve

Idioms about serve

Origin of serve

OTHER WORDS FROM serve

Words nearby serve

Words related to serve

How to use serve in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for serve

Derived forms of serve

Word Origin for serve

Other Idioms and Phrases with serve