server

noun

serv·​er ˈsər-vər 

1

: one that serves food or drink

2

: the player who serves (as in tennis)

3

: something used in serving food or drink

4

: one that serves legal processes upon another

5

: the celebrant's assistant at mass

6

: a computer in a network that is used to provide services (such as access to files or shared peripherals or the routing of email) to other computers in the network

Synonyms of server

• waiter
• waitress

Examples of server in a Sentence

She asked our server for another glass of wine.

we had barely finished ordering when the server brought our salads

Recent Examples on the Web

My server even went out of their way to grab me a muffin from Paris Baguette—at no charge—because the bread at Jots wasn’t an option for my allergies, a small gesture that made a big impression. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Mar. 2026

That is central to Apple's push to make the Mac a more credible platform for running advanced AI tools locally — an increasingly important capability for businesses that want to keep sensitive data off cloud servers. —Mackenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 3 Mar. 2026

The paper has been published on the arXiv preprint server. —Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Mar. 2026

Given the average data center spans the size of a Manhattan city block — or London’s Trafalgar Square — an underground concrete shelter of that size might go for $200 million, and that’s before factoring the costs to cover energy, cooling, and servers. —Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 3 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English server, servere, from serven "to serve entry 1" + -er, -ere -er entry 2

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing server

• ad server
• altar server
• blade server

Rhymes for server

• fervor
• fervour
• observer
• preserver

Kids Definition

server

noun

serv·​er ˈsər-vər 

1

: a person who serves food or drink

2

: the player who puts a ball in play

3

: something (as a tray) used in serving food or drink

4

: a computer in a network that is used to provide services (as access to files or the delivery of email) to other computers