Serve

Noun

 * 1)  the act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play in various games
 * Whose serve is it?
 * 1)  A portion of food, a serving

Synonyms

 * service
 * See serving

Antonyms

 * receive

Verb

 * 1)  To be a formal servant for (a god or deity); to worship in an official capacity.
 * 2) *1889, Philip Schaff, translating St Chrysostom, Homilies, XIV:
 * And yet this is not the office of a Priest, but of Him whom the Priest should serve.
 * 1)  To be a servant for; to work for, to be employed by.
 * 2) *1716, Joseph Addison, The Drummer:
 * And, truly, Mrs Abigail, I must needs say, I served my master contentedly while he was living, but I will serve no man living (that is, no man that is not living) without double wages.
 * 1) *1979, Bob Dylan, ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’:
 * You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief, / They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief / But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
 * 1)  To wait upon (someone) at table; to set food and drink in front of, to help (someone) to food, meals etc.
 * 2) *2007, Larry McMurty, When the Light Goes:
 * That night Annie served him grilled halibut and English peas, plus tomatoes, of course, and a salad.
 * 1)  To treat (someone) in a given manner.
 * 2) *1924, H Rider Haggard, Belshazzar:
 * I mock them all who have served me ill of late and chiefly this cheat of Judah, whose temple we have plundered and whose golden vessels are my wash-pots.
 * 1)  To be a servant or worker; to perform the duties of a servant or employee; to render service.
 * 2) *1673, John Milton, ‘On his Blindness’:
 * They also serve who only stand and wait.
 * 1)  To be suitor to; to be the lover of.
 * 2) *1590, Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene, III.7:
 * That gentle Lady, whom I loue and serue.
 * 1)  To be useful to; to meet the needs of.
 * 2) *2010, Lloyd Marcus, The Guardian, 12 Oct 2010:
 * So, while the sycophantic liberal media calls any and all opposition to Obama racist, they give Obama carte blanche to exploit his race whenever it serves his purpose.
 * 1)  To have a given use or purpose; to function for: something or to do something.
 * 2) *2011, "Borgata bust", The Economist, 27 Jan 2011:
 * The bust also served to remind the public that the Mafia is not harmless.
 * 1)  To usefully take the place as:, instead: of something else.
 * 2) *2010, "Not up in the air", The Economist, 20 Apr 2010:
 * Maybe the volcanic eruption will serve as a wake-up call to such companies that they need to modernise their risk management.
 * 1)  To set down (food or drink) on the table to be eaten; to bring (food, drink) to a person.
 * 2) *2009, Dominic A Pacyga, Chicago: A Biography, p. 195:
 * About twenty minutes after waiters served the soup, a guest got up and left.
 * 1)  To officially deliver (a legal notice, summons etc.).
 * 2) * 2008 Colloff, Pamela, The Fire That Time, Texas Monthly; Austin: Emmis Publishing, April 2008, p. 158:
 * On the morning of February 28, 1993, ATF agents gathered at a staging area near Waco and prepared to serve a search warrant on the Branch Davidians' residence.
 * 1)  To make legal service upon (a person named in a writ, summons, etc.)
 * to serve a witness with a subpoena.
 * 1)  To be in military service.
 * 2) *2007, Peter Walker, The Guardian, 16 May 2007:
 * Some reports suggested he would quit the army if he was not allowed to serve abroad in a war zone.
 * 1)  To lead off with the first delivery over the net in tennis, volleyball, ping pong, badminton etc.
 * 2) * 2007, Rob Antoun, Women's Tennis Tactics, page 2
 * In women's tennis the need to serve more effectively has become greater in recent years because the game is being played more aggressively, and rallies are becoming shorter as a result.
 * 1)  To copulate with (of male animals); to cover.
 * 2) *1996, Puck Bonnier et al., Dairy Cattle Husbandry, Agromisa Foundation 2004:
 * Conception means that a cow is served by a bull and that she becomes pregnant.
 * 1)  To work, to operate (a weapon).
 * 2) *1864, Horace Greeley, The American Conflict:
 * John T. Greble, of the 2d regular artillery, was likewise killed instantly by a ball through the head, while serving his gun in the face of the foe.
 * 1)  To work through (a given period of time in prison, a sentence).
 * 2) *2010, Tania Branigan, The Guardian, 1 Dec 2010:
 * The Guangzhou Daily reported that Shi Chunlong, 20, who organised the incident, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Hou Bin, who pulled out of the attack after helping to plan it, will serve 12 years.

Synonyms

 * attend, wait on

Derived terms

 * serve somebody right
 * server
 * servery
 * service
 * serviced
 * servile

Related terms

 * conserve
 * deserve
 * preserve
 * reserve
 * subserve

Adverbs for Serve
deftly; graciously; whole-heartedly; elegantly; gratuitously; conspicuously; unwittingly; valiantly; judiciously; indifferently; admirably; exclusively; eminently; generously; simultaneously; gloriously; faithfully; apathetically; tenderly.

Thesaurus
accommodate, accord, act, act as, act for, administer, administer to, advance, advantage, afford, 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, 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, satisfy, screw, screwball, send after, send for, serve the purpose, service, 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, suffice, suit, suit the occasion, summon, summon forth, summon up, summons, supply, survive, take care of, take it, tend, tender, throw, tilt, toss, 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

Etymology
From serven: <  servir: <  <  servire: <  servus:, perhaps from  ; compare Etruscan proper names Servi:, Serve:.

Translations

 * Finnish:
 * Hungarian:


 * Russian: подача
 * Slovene:
 * Swedish:

Verb

 * Armenian:
 * Czech:
 * Danish: tjene
 * Dutch:
 * Finnish:


 * Kurdish:
 * Russian: служить, послужить ; работать , поработать
 * Spanish: servir
 * Swedish:


 * Finnish:


 * Russian: служить, послужить


 * Armenian:
 * Danish: tjene
 * Finnish:


 * Russian: служить, послужить ; работать , поработать
 * Swedish:


 * Finnish:


 * Swedish:


 * Dutch:
 * Esperanto: servi
 * Finnish:
 * Interlingua: servir


 * Latin: prosum, servio
 * Russian: обслуживать, обслужить
 * Spanish:


 * Finnish: ,


 * Swedish:


 * Finnish:


 * Swedish:


 * Finnish:


 * Finnish:


 * Finnish:


 * Finnish:


 * Finnish: saattaa tietoon


 * Finnish:, toimia, palvella


 * Finnish:


 * Swedish:


 * Finnish:


 * Swedish:


 * Czech:
 * Finnish:


 * Hungarian: adogat, szervál
 * Swedish:


 * Finnish: rihmata


 * Finnish:


 * Latin: servio
 * Swedish:


 * Finnish:


 * Finnish:
 * Latin: servio
 * Russian: служить, послужить


 * Finnish:


 * Russian: служить, послужить


 * : ofici

Anagrams

 * sever
 * veers
 * verse

Anagrams

 * resve, rêves, rêvés, verse, versé

Noun
serve



Verb
serve



Noun
serve