civil service

noun

: the administrative service of a government or international agency exclusive of the armed forces

especially : one in which appointments are determined by competitive examination

Examples of civil service in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

According to The New York Times, the couple tied the knot in a civil service in San Antonio before holding a religious ceremony in Mexico. —Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026

The hourly wage of a contract psychologist was double that of their civil service counterparts, according to the state auditor. —William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 7 Apr. 2026

Woodrow Wilson, who resegregated the federal civil service after taking office in 1913, agreed. —John Broich, The Conversation, 7 Apr. 2026

In the years that followed—‘til 1964 when army HQ decamped to the Ministry of Defence across the way—between 2500 and 3000 army and civil service personnel surged the two and a half miles of corridors on a daily basis. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1770, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for civil service

• interservice
• disservice
• preservice
• nervous
• nervus

Kids Definition

civil service

noun

: the branch of a government that takes care of the business of running a state but that does not include the lawmaking branch, the military, or the court system