Self-service

//sɛlfˈsɜː.vɪs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The practice of serving oneself, usually when purchasing items. attributive, often, uncountable

    "On the opposite side of the concourse is the triple-counter ticket office and three self-service machines which are adjacent to a large customer service counter and the gateline."

  2. 2
    the practice of serving yourself (as in a grocery or cafeteria) wordnet
Adjective
  1. 1
    of or denoting an establishment (a restaurant or shop etc.) where customers serve themselves wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
covercover chargeordinaryself-serveservice

Example

More examples

"Gas is a little cheaper with self-service, now that deregulation is kicking in."

Etymology

From self- + service.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.