server

American  

[sur-ver] / ˈsɜr vər /

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of server

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

Example Sentences

As Silicon Valley now funnels untold riches into server farms around the country, Rizer said, “I wait for those guys to call me.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Legally, service fees are treated differently from tips: The former is the property of the restaurateur to distribute as they please, while tips are legally the property of the individual server.

From Los Angeles Times

The huge amounts of electricity needed to power them and water to cool hot servers has sparked alarm at a time when countries have pledged to decarbonise their grids to try and slow climate change.

From Barron's

Intel has long dominated the server chip market, Windsor said, while Arm-based chips “have often floundered” due to incompatibility with legacy software systems in data centers.

From MarketWatch

Teddy Riley sits down in the restaurant of the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills and tells a server, “All I want is a lemonade and some French fries.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• flight attendant
• hostess
• stewardess
• waiter
• waitress