serve

serve
servable, serveable, adj.
/serrv/, v., served, serving, n.
v.i.
1. to act as a servant.
2. to wait on table, as a waiter.
3. to offer or have a meal or refreshments available, as for patrons or guests: Come early, we're serving at six.
4. to offer or distribute a portion or portions of food or a beverage, as a host or hostess: It was her turn to serve at the faculty tea.
5. to render assistance; be of use; help.
6. to go through a term of service; do duty as a soldier, sailor, senator, juror, etc.
7. to have definite use: This cup will serve as a sugar bowl.
8. to answer the purpose: That will serve to explain my actions.
9. (in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.) to put the ball or shuttlecock in play with a stroke, swing, or hit.
10. to be favorable, suitable, or convenient, as weather or time.
11. Eccles. to act as a server.
v.t.
12. to be in the service of; work for.
13. to be useful or of service to; help.
14. to go through (a term of service, imprisonment, etc.).
15. to render active service to (a sovereign, commander, etc.).
16. to render obedience or homage to (God, a sovereign, etc.).
17. to perform the duties of (a position, an office, etc.): to serve his mayoralty.
18. to answer the requirements of; suffice: This will serve our needs for the moment.
19. to contribute to; promote: to serve a cause.
20. to wait upon at table; act as a waiter or waitress to.
21. to carry and distribute (portions of food or drink) to a patron or a specific table, as a waiter or waitress.
22. to act as a host or hostess in offering (a person) a portion of food or drink: May I serve you with some tea and cake?
23. to act as a host or hostess in offering or distributing (a portion or portions of food or drink) to another: They served tea and cake to their guests.
24. to provide with a regular or continuous supply of something.
25. (in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.) to put (the ball or shuttlecock) in play.
26. to treat in a specified manner: That served him ill.
27. Law.
a. to make legal delivery of (a process or writ).
b. to present (a person) with a writ.
28. to gratify (desire, wants, needs, etc.).
29. (of a male animal) to mate with; service.
30. to operate or keep in action (a gun, artillery, etc.).
31. Naut. to wrap (a rope) tightly with small stuff, keeping the turns as close together as possible.
32. serve one right, to treat one as one deserves, esp. to punish justly: It will serve you right if she never speaks to you again.
n.
33. the act, manner, or right of serving, as in tennis.
[1125-75; ME serven < OF servir < L servire, equiv. to serv(us) slave (cf. SERF) + -ire inf. suffix]
Syn. 1, 2. attend. 5. aid, succor.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Serve — Serve, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Served}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Serving}.] [OE. serven, servien, OF. & F. servir, fr. L. servire; akin to servus a servant or slave, servare to protect, preserve, observe; cf. Zend har to protect, haurva protecting. Cf.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • serve — → serf ● serf, serve adjectif (latin servus, esclave) Relatif à l état des serfs : Des hommes de condition serve. Littéraire. Qui fait preuve d une soumission complète à l égard d autrui. ● serf, serve (homonymes) adjectif (latin servus, esclave) …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • serve — [sɜːv ǁ sɜːrv] verb 1. [transitive] COMMERCE to supply customers with a particular product or service or with something they need: • The firm plans to open a London office to serve clients with investments and businesses in Europe. • JAL Group… …   Financial and business terms

  • serve — [sʉrv] vt. served, serving [ME serven < OFr servir < L servire, to serve < servus, servant, slave: see SERF] 1. to work for as a servant 2. a) to do services or duties for; give service to; aid; assist; help b) to give obedience and… …   English World dictionary

  • serve — vt served, serv·ing 1: to deliver, publish, or execute (notice or process) as required by law no notice of any such request was ever served on the husband National Law Journal 2: to make legal service upon (the person named in a process): inform… …   Law dictionary

  • serve — late 12c., to render habitual obedience to, from O.Fr. servir to serve, from L. servire to serve, originally be a slave, related to servus slave, perhaps from an Etruscan word (Cf. Etruscan proper names Servi, Serve). Meaning to attend to (a… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Serve — Serve, v. i. 1. To be a servant or a slave; to be employed in labor or other business for another; to be in subjection or bondage; to render menial service. [1913 Webster] The Lord shall give thee rest . . . from the hard bondage wherein thou… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • serve — ► VERB 1) perform duties or services for. 2) be employed as a member of the armed forces. 3) spend (a period) in office, in an apprenticeship, or in prison. 4) present food or drink to. 5) attend to (a customer in a shop). 6) be of use in… …   English terms dictionary

  • serve — [v1] aid, help; supply arrange, assist, attend to, be of assistance, be of use, care for, deal, deliver, dish up*, distribute, do for, give, handle, hit, minister to, nurse, oblige, play, present, provide, provision, set out, succor, wait on,… …   New thesaurus

  • Serve — may refer to: * Serve (tennis) * Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment * Providing a non material good, as in the work of a servant * Supplying customers with food and drink, as in the work of a food server * Delivering a legal or… …   Wikipedia

  • serve up — (something) to offer something. The TV miniseries will be serving up five hour long programs. Hitchcock served up a pitch that Perez hit over the fence for a home run. Filmgoers demand realism, and Lee serves it up without flash or tricks in his… …   New idioms dictionary

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