serve up
Idioms-
Dish out food, as in Next they served up some oysters . [First half of 1400s]
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Provide, as in He served up joke after joke, delighting his audience . [First half of 1600s] also see hand to on a silver platter .
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.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, these changes would allow Head Start to serve up to 236,000 more children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
On Wednesday, Ashdon O'Dare, Lee Robinson, Michaela Gonzales, Jordan Bratcher and Tyler Stapleton, were sentenced to serve up to 40% of their terms in custody, with the remainder in the community.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
Restaurants there serve up brick-oven pizza and chicken wings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
CBS will serve up two other new shows, including a comedic drama, “Einstein,” and a half-hour vampire family comedy, “Eternally Yours.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026
The following year, as we moved toward graduation, he would invite some of us for dinners at his home, and Marcy would serve up big bowls of pasta with garlic bread.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
