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

Meanwhile, Intel’s server CPUs are seeing surging interest amid an industry shift toward inference, or the process of running artificial-intelligence models.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 2, 2026

Demand for server CPUs is outpacing supply, and shortages there are becoming a bottleneck to AI development, Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya said in a note earlier this week.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

Manetta, a 31-year-old server who was born and raised in the district where she is running, told The 19th that she was “devastated” after the 2024 presidential election.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2026

Once you do that, the server list updates to the subset of NordWhisper servers, so you can just connect like normal to use an obfuscated server.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026

A server took away the remains of the pig and replaced it with a heaping pile of crescent-shaped, fried chebureki.

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

Related Words

• flight attendant
• hostess
• stewardess
• waiter
• waitress