soft serve

American  

[sawft surv, soft] / ˈsɔft ˌsɜrv, ˈsɒft /

noun

1. a smooth-textured, soft ice cream that is aerated in a machine to reduce its density and pumped into a cone or cup rather than scooped like traditional hard-packed ice cream.

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Other Word Forms

• soft-serve
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of soft serve

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

On Thursday evening, Mixue customers stood outside — the shop does not offer seating — eating soft serve and sipping on boba milk tea and the store’s signature grape drink with taro balls.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2026

Don’t forget to finish with soft serve from the ice cream stand.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2025

Most of the time I also get the vanilla soft serve with strawberry sauce.

From Slate • Dec. 28, 2024

As Max Falkowitz writes in Serious Eats, "But the soft serve machine didn't reach its peak until the '50s and '60s, when new technologies allowed for better aeration and churning of liquid bases."

From Salon • May 16, 2024

Cover again and when the crackers are soft, serve in soup plates.

From Home Pork Making by Fulton, A. W.