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serve - definition and meaning
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To work for (someone) as a servant.
- intransitive verb To prepare and offer (food, for example).
- intransitive verb To place food before (someone); wait on.
- intransitive verb To provide goods and services for (customers).
- intransitive verb To supply (goods or services) to customers.
- intransitive verb To assist the celebrant during (Mass).
- intransitive verb To meet the requirements of; suffice for.
- intransitive verb To be of assistance to or promote the interests of; aid.
- intransitive verb To work through or complete (a period of service).
- intransitive verb To be in prison for (a period or term).
- intransitive verb Sports To be removed from play for a specified period because of (a penalty).
- intransitive verb To fight or undergo military service for.
- intransitive verb To give homage and obedience to.
- intransitive verb To act toward (another) in a specified way.
- intransitive verb To copulate with; service. Used of male animals.
- intransitive verb To deliver or present (a process of the court, such as a summons or court order) in a manner prescribed by law to a person who is legally entitled to receive it or legally required to obey it.
- intransitive verb To present such a process to (someone).
- intransitive verb Sports To put (a ball or shuttlecock) in play, as in tennis, badminton, or jai alai.
- intransitive verb To bind or whip (a rope) with fine cord or wire.
- intransitive verb To be employed as a servant.
- intransitive verb To do a term of duty.
- intransitive verb To act in a particular capacity.
- intransitive verb To be of service or use; function.
- intransitive verb To meet requirements or needs; satisfy.
- intransitive verb To wait on tables.
- intransitive verb Sports To hit a ball or shuttlecock as a way of starting play in court games.
- intransitive verb To assist the celebrant during Mass.
- noun The act or right of serving in many court games.
- idiom (serve (someone) right) To be deserved under the circumstances.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In tennis or lawn-tennis:
- noun The act of the first player in striking the ball, or the style in which the ball is then delivered: as, a good serve.
- noun The right of hitting or delivering the ball first: as, it is my serve.
- noun The service-tree.
- noun The fruit of the service-tree.
- To attend or wait upon; act as servant to; work for; be in the employment of as a slave, domestic, hired helper, or the like.
- To render spiritual obedience and worship to; conform to the law and do the will of.
- To be subordinate or subservient to; minister to.
- To wait on or attend in the services of the table or at meals.
- To bring forward and place or arrange, as viands or food on a table: often with up, formerly with forth or in.
- To administer the service of; perform the duties required for: as, a curate may serve two churches.
- To contribute or conduce to; promote.
- To aid by good offices; minister to the wants or well-being of.
- To be of use to instead of something else: with for: as, a sofa may serve one for a bed.
- To regulate one's conduct in accordance with the spirit, fashion, or demands of; comply with.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English serven, from Old French servir, from Latin servīre, from servus, slave.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Middle English serven, from Middle French servir, from Old French, from Latin servire ("to be a slave, to serve"), from Latin servus ("slave, servant"), perhaps from Etruscan ; compare Etruscan proper names Servi, Serve.
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Examples
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The fact that Bayut. com stood out amongst the crowd of websites competing for the title serve as a testament to its authority in the field.
Press Release 2009
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The only purpose this legislation seems to serve is to kick the bucket further down the road and in the mean time give democrats hope of creating a government sponsored enterprise in the form of the domestic automobile industry.
Archive 2008-12-01 xtra 2008
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The only purpose this legislation seems to serve is to kick the bucket further down the road and in the mean time give democrats hope of creating a government sponsored enterprise in the form of the domestic automobile industry.
Automaker Bailout xtra 2008
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In mixed doubles, the serve is always gender to gender at deuce (three points each).
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So, it's hard to turn women away, but the way the program works is, the number of women we can serve is related to the number of sponsors, who help to support the women as they go through the program.
Rahim Kanani: An Interview with Karen Sherman of Women for Women International Rahim Kanani 2010
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That Cosgrove has mere months left to serve is entirely irrelevant.
April Fool’s, Justice Cosgrove! Clean Out Your Desk. : Law is Cool 2009
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Their complete disconnect with the actual, proven war-fighting requirements of the state that they serve is embarrassing.
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Look at how schools actually behave and it becomes pretty clear that the constituency they serve is their employees.
High School Curriculum, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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"His serve is probably the best on the tour," Blake said.
Croatia leads U.S. 2-0 in Davis Cup behind Cilic, Karlovic wins 2009
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So, it's hard to turn women away, but the way the program works is, the number of women we can serve is related to the number of sponsors, who help to support the women as they go through the program.
Rahim Kanani: An Interview with Karen Sherman of Women for Women International Rahim Kanani 2010
Related Words
synonyms (325)
Words with the same meaning
- accommodate
- accord
- act
- act as
- act for
- administer
- administer to
- advance
- advantage
- afford
- aid
- allot
- allow
- answer
- answer for
- assist
- attend
- attend on
- attend to
- avail
- award
- ball
- be OK
- be correct
- be equal to
- be found wanting
- be handy
- be inferior
- be instrumental
- be intimate
- be of use
- be right
- bear
- bear arms
- befit
- befitting
- behave
- bend to
- benefit
- bestead
- bestow
- bestow on
- bias
- bid come
- bowl
- break no bones
- call
- call away
- call back
- call for
- call forth
- call in
- call out
- call together
- call up
- care for
- carry arms
- cast
- catapult
- cater to
- change of pace
- change-up
- chore
- chuck
- chunk
- cite
- cohabit
- come short
- come together
- commit adultery
- communicate
- complete
- conduce
- confer
- conjure
- conjure up
- contribute
- convene
- convoke
- copulate
- couple
- cover
- curve
- dance attendance upon
- dart
- dash
- deal
- deal out
- demand
- diddle
- dish out
- dish up
- dispense
- dispose
- distribute
- do
- do active duty
- do duty
- do for
- do good
- do it
- do no harm
- do service to
- do the job
- do the trick
- dole
- dole out
- donate
- downcurve
- drudge
- endure
- evoke
- extend
- facilitate
- fail
- fall short
- fastball
- favor
- fight for
- fill the bill
- fire
- fit
- fling
- flip
- follow
- fork
- fork out
- fornicate
- forward
- forward pass
- frig
- fulfill
- function
- function as
- get by
- gift
- gift with
- give
- give freely
- give good returns
- give out
- go
- go around
- go between
- go through
- grant
- gratify
- hack it
- hand out
- have a tendency
- have nothing on
- have sex
- have sexual relations
- head
- heap
- heave
- help
- help to
- hold
- hurl
- hurtle
- impart
- incline
- incurve
- indent
- invoke
- issue
- jerk
- just do
- knuckleball
- lackey
- lance
- last
- lateral
- lateral pass
- launch
- lavish
- lay
- lead
- lean
- let fly
- let have
- lie with
- lob
- look after
- look to
- maid
- make
- make available
- make it with
- make love
- make out
- make the grade
- mate
- mediate
- meet
- meet requirements
- mete
- mete out
- minister to
- mount
- move
- muster
- muster up
- not approach
- not come amiss
- not come near
- not compare
- not fail
- not hack it
- not make it
- not measure up
- obey
- oblige
- offer
- officiate
- operate
- order up
- outcurve
- page
- pander to
- pass
- pass muster
- pay
- pay off
- peg
- pelt
- perform as
- pitch
- pitchfork
- play
- play second fiddle
- point
- point to
- pour
- practice
- preconize
- present
- proceed
- proffer
- profit
- promote
- provide
- put
- put the shot
- qualify
- rain
- rank under
- reach
- recall
- redound to
- relate
- render
- requisition
- requite
- satisfy
- screw
- screwball
- send after
- send for
- serve the purpose
- service
- serving
- set
- set out
- set toward
- shell out
- shot-put
- shoulder a gun
- shoulder arms
- show a tendency
- shower
- shy
- sinker
- sleep with
- slider
- sling
- slip
- snap
- snow
- soldier
- spend
- spitball
- spitter
- stand
- stand up
- stretch
- subpoena
- subserve
- succor
- suffice
- suit
- suit the occasion
- summon
- summon forth
- summon up
- summons
- supply
- survive
- take care of
- take it
- tend
- tender
- throw
- tilt
- toss
- treat
- trend
- turn
- upcurve
- upon
- use
- valet
- verge
- vouchsafe
- wait
- wait on
- want
- warp
- wear the uniform
- work
- work for
- work toward
- yield
- yield a profit
equivalents (2)
Other words for 'serve'
hypernyms (12)
Words that are more generic or abstract
same context (8)
Words that are found in similar contexts
variants (1)
Variants
cross-references (33)
Cross-references
- act
- aid
- benefit
- contribute
- deliver
- help
- suffice
- suit
- supply
- the same sauce
- the turn
- to serve a cable
- to serve a hawk
- to serve a person heir to a property
- to serve a sentence
- to serve a turn
- to serve an apprenticeship
- to serve an execution
- to serve an office
- to serve one
- to serve one a trick
- to serve one out
- to serve one right
- to serve one's self of
- to serve one's time
- to serve out
- to serve the purpose of
- to serve the vent
- to serve time
- treat
- works
- writ
- writ of attachment
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