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

In men’s tennis, before even hitting the ball, the server has around a 66 percent chance of winning the point. — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026

If no wake word is detected, the audio used for wake word detection is processed locally on the TV, promptly deleted, and is not transmitted to LG servers. — Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 8 Sep. 2026

The product, once operating out of a pair of server racks, became cloud-based not long after. — Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026

All this creates a virtuous flywheel where more use of AI agents creates more demand for Dell’s servers, and vice versa. — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 8 Sep. 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