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

Town leaders alleged in the document that the decrease is the result of officers striking without permission in violation of the state's civil service laws. —Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 20 Apr. 2025

The effort to strip civil service protections from some workers began on Trump's first day back in office, with an executive order reinstating an order Trump signed at the end of his first term, in 2020. —Shannon Bond, NPR, 18 Apr. 2025

Trump said the Office of Personnel Management will issue new civil service regulations. —Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Apr. 2025

Hefner has framed the bill as a statewide extension of a provision of civil service protections already in place in over 130 Texas cities. —Cody Copeland, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 Apr. 2025

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