server

American  

[sur-ver] / ˈsɜr vər /

noun

• servers
  plural

1. a person who serves.

2. a person who waits on tables; a waiter or waitress.

3. something that serves or is used in serving, as a salver.

4. a broad fork, spoon, or spatula for dishing out and serving individual portions of food, as vegetables, cake, or pie.

5. Also called altar server. Ecclesiastical. an attendant on the priest at Mass, who arranges the altar, makes the responses, etc.

6. (in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.) the player who puts the ball or shuttlecock in play.

7. Computers. a computer that makes services, as access to data files, programs, and peripheral devices, available to workstations on a network.

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server British  

/ ˈsɜːvə /

noun

1. a person who serves

2. RC Church a person who acts as acolyte or assists the priest at Mass

3. something that is used in serving food and drink

4. the player who serves in racket games

5. computing a computer or program that supplies data or resources to other machines on a network

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server Scientific  

/ sûr′vər /

1. A computer that manages centralized data storage or network communications resources. A server provides and organizes access to these resources for other computers linked to it.

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server Cultural  

1. Computer or software that performs administration or coordination functions within a network.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• servers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of server

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; serve + -er ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

You can refer to the person who delivers your food in a restaurant as a server. Be sure to leave your server a generous tip! The term server has become a very common synonym for "waiter" or "waitress." It's preferable to talk about the friendly server who takes your order, since the word isn't specific to their gender but works for anyone who serves food. Another meaning of server is the computer hardware in a network of linked computers that allows those devices to work properly.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

server servers

And then, one night, a server has to ask if you would like to add chips.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

In nearby Salem Township, dozens of families made millions of dollars selling their land for server farms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

“Nathan quoted Wilson $110,000 for an untraceable site with a satellite, ghost server, ghost hosting, full build, maintaining, and full algorithmic push across all platforms ... for 3 months,” the filing alleges.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

You can also simply tell the server that you’ll be splitting the check down the middle.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

He was pointing at the server cabinets forming the maze around them.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

HPE launched a new line of enterprise servers powered by AMD’s latest processors.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

However, prosecutors say, Lui used freight-forwarding companies to ship the high-end servers containing the microchips from Malaysia and Singapore on to China.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Labor costs are lower, with self-service buffets needing fewer servers than a traditional restaurant.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

“You would begin to see the rental prices for AI compute come down. You could see inventory of various items build along the supply chain,” including chips and servers.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

Even though the room was kept cold for the servers, he could feel droplets of sweat forming on his forehead.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Related Words

• flight attendant
• hostess
• stewardess
• waiter
• waitress