social services

British

plural noun

welfare activities organized by the state or a local authority and carried out by trained personnel

"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

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.

Some see taxation as a way to offset the loss of labor taxes to fund social services.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

The results in the capital won't only determine who runs vital public services - schools, social services and rubbish collection.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

The district and county councils nominally manage education, road paving, trash collection and a bevy of social services including low-income housing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

The economy wouldn’t be adding any jobs at all if not for healthcare, including social services such as eldercare and child care.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 2, 2026

I think about the strange phone call she got, the surprise trip away from the Ranch in the middle of the night, her worries about social services coming to take me away.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023