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

As tech giants from Google and OpenAI to Microsoft rush to build data centers powered by graphics processing units designed by Nvidia and AMD, Taiwanese companies have been at the forefront, manufacturing the semiconductors and servers essential for training AI models. —John Liu, CNN Money, 28 Nov. 2025

The talent shortage threatens to slow all of this, potentially driving up costs and stretching timelines on projects that power everything from renewable energy to the servers running ChatGPT. —Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 28 Nov. 2025

The Wuhan University team’s research details are available on the arXiv preprint server. —Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 28 Nov. 2025

At this 50-year-old restaurant set in a 17th-century farmhouse in San Vigilio di Marebbe, servers wear traditional Alpine dress. —Hannah Walhout, Travel + Leisure, 27 Nov. 2025

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