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Showing results for "serving"
  • present participle of serve.
Synonyms

serving

American  
[sur-ving] / ˈsɜr vɪŋ /

noun

  • servings
    plural
  1. the act of a person or thing that serves.

  2. a single portion of food or drink; helping.

  3. Electricity. a layer of material, as jute yarn or tape, that is applied to the core or the exterior of a lead-covered cable and acts as a protective covering.


adjective

  1. for use in distributing food to or at the table.

    a serving tray.

serving British  
/ ˈsɜːvɪŋ /

noun

  1. a portion or helping of food or drink

"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 Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of serving

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English; serve + -ing 1

Vocabulary lists containing serving

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.

See Examples For:

By handing Zambada over to U.S. authorities while turning himself in, Guzmán López hoped to secure a deal that would allow him to avoid his father’s fate of serving life in a maximum-security prison.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 21, 2026

The judge excused the jurors from serving again for life due to the "harrowing and graphic" evidence they had heard.

From BBC Aug. 21, 2026

"This excess in supply is also likely an additional factor serving to weigh on global sovereign debt markets with some investors preferring to invest in Big Tech as opposed to indebted sovereigns."

From Barron's Aug. 21, 2026

That kicked off talks that resulted in the Singapore summit, with Seoul serving as a key facilitator between Washington and Pyongyang.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 20, 2026

Mother had finished cooking and came and sat with them after serving herself some food too.

From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook

Faint scorch marks could have formed when the pot was originally fired, or they may have appeared later if the vessel was set close to a fire to warm individual servings of food.

From Science Daily Aug. 22, 2026

A third group ate an unrestricted diet that also included three daily servings of dairy.

From Science Daily Aug. 9, 2026

According to the research firm Circana, frozen-yogurt servings sold in the U.S. between March 2025 and March 2026 rose by 26% compared with the previous year.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 19, 2026

Of course, if you have multiple bananas that need to be eaten ASAP, you can make multiple servings for the week and store them in the fridge.

From Salon Jun. 20, 2026

“I mean, all I know is you ate like six servings of the stuff. And Celia and I didn’t feel sick.”

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

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