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Serve
Definitions
- 1 An act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play in various games.
"Whose serve is it?"
- 2 (sports) a stroke that puts the ball in play wordnet
- 3 A portion of food or drink, a serving. Australia
"The night before your event, base your evening meal on high-carbohydrate foods with a small serve of lean protein."
- 4 An impressive presentation (especially of a person's appearance).
"That white eyeliner is such a serve."
- 1 To provide a service (or, by extension, a product, especially food or drink).; To be a formal servant for (a god or deity); to worship in an official capacity. personal, transitive
"And yet this is not the office of a Priest, but of Him whom the Priest should serve."
- 2 put the ball into play wordnet
- 3 To provide a service (or, by extension, a product, especially food or drink).; To be a servant for; to work for, to be employed by. personal, transitive
"And truly, Mrs. Abigal, I muſt needs ſay, I ſerv'd my Maſter contentedly, vvhile he vvas living; but I vvill ſerve no Man living (that is, no Man that is not living) vvithout double VVages."
- 4 do duty or hold offices; serve in a specific function wordnet
- 5 To provide a service (or, by extension, a product, especially food or drink).; To wait upon (someone) at table; to set food and drink in front of, to help (someone) to food, meals etc. personal, transitive
"That night Annie served him grilled halibut and English peas, plus tomatoes, of course, and a salad."
Show 33 more definitions
- 6 provide (usually but not necessarily food) wordnet
- 7 To provide a service (or, by extension, a product, especially food or drink).; To render service by being a servant, worker, employee, or officeholder; to hold those roles and perform their duties. factive, intransitive, personal
"They also serve who only stand and wait."
- 8 help to some food; help with food or drink wordnet
- 9 To provide a service (or, by extension, a product, especially food or drink).; To set down (food or drink) on the table to be eaten; to bring (food, drink) to a person. personal, transitive
"About twenty minutes after waiters served the soup, a guest got up and left."
- 10 mate with wordnet
- 11 To treat (someone) in a given manner. archaic, transitive
"Herein thou haſt done good ſeruice to thy country: VVere all inhumaine ſlaues ſo ſerued as he, England would be ciuill, and from all ſuch dealings free."
- 12 deliver a warrant or summons to someone wordnet
- 13 To be suitor to; to be the lover of. archaic, transitive
"That gentle Lady, whom I loue and serue."
- 14 do military service wordnet
- 15 To be effective.; To be useful to; to meet the needs of. transitive
"Will somebody please explain to these people that the values of cultural diversity are not served by an ad placing a menorah under a fucking Christmas tree!"
- 16 work for, or be a servant to wordnet
- 17 To be effective.; To have a given use or purpose; to function for something or to do something. intransitive
"The bust also served to remind the public that the Mafia is not harmless."
- 18 be used by; as of a utility wordnet
- 19 To be effective.; To usefully take the place as, instead of something else. intransitive
"Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out.[…]. Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft."
- 20 devote (part of) one's life or efforts to, as of countries, institutions, or ideas wordnet
- 21 To deliver a document in such a way that the recipient can be legally considered to be informed of it.; To officially deliver (a legal notice, summons etc.). transitive
"a document served on the tenant"
- 22 be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity wordnet
- 23 To deliver a document in such a way that the recipient can be legally considered to be informed of it.; To make legal service upon (a person named in a writ, summons, etc.) transitive
"to serve a witness with a subpoena"
- 24 contribute or conduce to wordnet
- 25 To lead off with the first delivery over the net in tennis, volleyball, ping pong, badminton etc. intransitive, transitive
"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."
- 26 promote, benefit, or be useful or beneficial to wordnet
- 27 To copulate with (of male animals); to cover. transitive
"Conception means that a cow is served by a bull and that she becomes pregnant."
- 28 serve a purpose, role, or function wordnet
- 29 To be in military service. intransitive
"Some reports suggested he would quit the army if he was not allowed to serve abroad in a war zone."
- 30 spend time in prison or in a labor camp wordnet
- 31 To work, to operate (a weapon). transitive
"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."
- 32 To work through (a given period of time in prison, a sentence). transitive
"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."
- 33 To wind spun yarn etc. tightly around (a rope or cable, etc.) so as to protect it from chafing or from the weather.
- 34 To perform (a public obligation). transitive
"I've received a summons for jury duty. It says I serve one day or one trial."
- 35 To provide crack cocaine (to), usually by selling, dealing, or distributing. ambitransitive, slang
"Once I began selling crack, money was no issue. I would be out 2-3 days at a time, up for 24 hours a day. It was a full time job, serving crack fiends."
- 36 To present an attractive personal appearance.; To present an attractive personal appearance. intransitive
"[…] Angela Bassett, serving for the gods in regal headdresses and flowing white dreadlocks as T'Challa's mother, […]"
- 37 To present an attractive personal appearance.; To attractively display (something, especially a body part) as part of one's personal appearance. transitive
"I feel the same way about Ashley Monroe too, who was her usual sweet self as she came through serving cleavage to the max."
- 38 To present an attractive personal appearance.; To evoke (something, especially a person) with one's personal appearance. transitive
"Serving Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia! realness, and we’re into it."
Etymology
From Middle English serven, from Old French servir, from Latin serviō (“be a slave; serve”), from Latin servus (“slave; servant”), which perhaps derives from Etruscan (compare Etruscan proper names 𐌔𐌄𐌓𐌅𐌉 (servi), 𐌔𐌄𐌓𐌅𐌄 (serve)), or from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“watch over, protect”).
From Middle English serven, from Old French servir, from Latin serviō (“be a slave; serve”), from Latin servus (“slave; servant”), which perhaps derives from Etruscan (compare Etruscan proper names 𐌔𐌄𐌓𐌅𐌉 (servi), 𐌔𐌄𐌓𐌅𐌄 (serve)), or from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“watch over, protect”).
See also for "serve"
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