subserve
verb (used with object)
to be useful or instrumental in promoting (a purpose, action, etc.).
subserved
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past participleof subserve.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof subserve.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
subserveverb (used with object)to be useful or instrumental in promoting (a purpose, action, etc.).
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.
The Inquisition exercised a censorship over everything designed for publication, and unless it subserved the interest of that fiendish institution, it was made to do so, or it was suppressed.
From Aztec Land by Maturin Murray Ballou
It is the same which is subserved by the quivering of the leaves of trees.
From Flower, Fruit, and Thorn Pieces; or, the Wedded Life, Death, and Marriage of Firmian Stanislaus Siebenkaes, Parish Advocate in the Burgh of Kuhschnappel. by Jean Paul
If this involves the surrender or postponement of private interests, and the abandonment of local advantages, compensation will be found in the assurance that thus the common interest is subserved, and the general welfare advanced.
From A Letter to Grover Cleveland On His False Inaugural Address, The Usurpations and Crimes of Lawmakers and Judges, and the Consequent Poverty, Ignorance, and Servitude Of The People by Lysander Spooner
He resumed his reading and docketing, by the light of the little lamp which had just subserved the purposes of a spy.
From In a Glass Darkly, v. 2/3 by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
All possible entanglements were thus avoided, while the purposes of the Administration, in so far at least as they subserved the true interests of the country, were substantially accomplished.
From The Middle Period 1817-1858 by John William Burgess
