serve

1 of 2

verb

ˈsərv 

served; serving

intransitive verb

1

a

: to be a servant

b

: to do military or naval service

2

: to assist a celebrant as server at mass

3

a

: to be of use

in a day when few people could write, seals served as signatures

—Elizabeth W. King

b

: to be favorable, opportune, or convenient

c

: to be worthy of reliance or trust

if memory serves

d

: to hold an office : discharge a duty or function

serve on a jury

4

: to prove adequate or satisfactory : suffice

it will serve for this task

5

: to help persons to food: such as

a

: to wait at table

b

: to set out portions of food or drink

6

: to wait on customers

7

: to put the ball or shuttlecock in play in various games (such as tennis, volleyball, or badminton)

transitive verb

1

a

: to be a servant to : attend

b

: to give the service and respect due to (a superior)

c

: to comply with the commands or demands of : gratify

d

: to give military or naval service to

e

: to perform the duties of (an office or post)

2

: to act as server at (mass)

3

archaic : to pay a lover's or suitor's court to (a lady)

that gentle lady, whom I love and serve

—Edmund Spenser

4

a

: to work through (a term of service)

b

: to put in (a term of imprisonment)

5

a

: to wait on at table

b

: to bring (food) to a diner

c

: present, provide

—usually used with up

the novel served up many laughs

6

a

: to furnish or supply with something needed or desired

b

: to wait on (a customer) in a store

c

: to furnish professional service to

7

a

: to answer the needs of

b

: to be enough for : suffice

c

: to contribute or conduce to : promote

8

: to treat or act toward in a specified way

he served me ill

9

a

: to bring to notice, deliver, or execute as required by law

b

: to make legal service upon (a person named in a process)

10

of a male animal : to copulate with

11

: to wind yarn or wire tightly around (a rope or stay) for protection

12

: to provide services that benefit or help

13

: to put (the ball or shuttlecock) in play (as in tennis, volleyball, or badminton)

serve

2 of 2

noun

: the act or action of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play in various games (such as volleyball, badminton, or tennis)

also : a turn to serve

it's your serve

Phrases

serve one right

: to be deserved

Synonyms

Verb

• slave (for)
• work (for)

Examples of serve in a Sentence

Verb

Soup was served as the first course.

The waiter served our meals quickly.

The restaurant serves excellent Italian food.

The waiter who served us was very nice.

Feel free to serve yourself at the salad bar.

You carve the turkey, and I'll serve.

The roast should serve six.

I'm afraid all of our salespeople are serving other customers right now.

What can we do to serve our customers better?

Noun

She started the game with a powerful serve.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

His father, who has also served significant time in prison, explained the emotional weight of watching his son endure a similar experience. —Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 24 Apr. 2025

The proceeds from sales will go toward summer camps and mission trips for middle and high school youth, who often serve as volunteers with their parents, Castro said. —Eric Jackson, Sportico.com, 24 Apr. 2025

Noun

For Summertime Guests will indulge in Cinnabon Swirl Sundaes, which include chopped up bits of cinnamon roll center swirls topped with Carvel vanilla soft serve and a caramel drizzle. —Moná Thomas, People.com, 24 Apr. 2025

For a sweet finish, guests can enjoy the Lickety Split homemade soft serve gelato made in-house with panna triple cream. —Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English serven, sarven "to perform a duty, be employed, assume the role of personal attendant, be of use (of a body part), perform religious rites, provide food and drink (to people at a table), deliver (a legal writ)," borrowed from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French servir, borrowed from Medieval Latin serviō, servīre, going back to Latin, "to perform duties for (a master) in the capacity of a slave, act in subservience, be at the service of," verbal derivative of servus "slave," perhaps, if the original sense was "watcher (of flocks), guardian," derivative with the nominal suffix *-u̯o-, of the Indo-European verbal base *ser- "keep watch on, guard," whence, with varying ablaut and derivation, Greek (Homeric) epì…órontai "they kept watch over," Greek éphoros "watcher, overseer," phrourós "guard, watchman" (< *pro-horós), phrourā́ "guard duty," Avestan nišhauruuaiti "(s/he) keeps watch on" (from a stem *har-u̯a-), pasuš.hauruua "guarding the flock (of a dog)," harətar- "watcher, guardian"

Note: The above etymology of Latin servus "slave" is carefully argued by Helmut Rix (Die Termini der Unfreiheit in den Sprachen Alt-Italiens, Stuttgart, 1994, pp. 54-88), who rejects claims that the word is of Etruscan origin. Rix hypothesizes that between about 700 b.c. and 450 b.c., as most transhumant shepherds in the Italian peninsula came to be slaves, an agent noun meaning "flock guard" developed a secondary sense "slave," and by the time of the earliest Latin texts had largely lost its original meaning (with pāstor becoming the usual word for a shepherd—see pastor entry 1). The presumption is that Italic languages—as Indo-European languages generally—lacked a word for "slave," as slavery was an institution endemic to older Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilizations. Note that Umbrian has a verb exemplified by the imperative seritu "(let him/her) protect!" that corresponds in form but not in sense to Latin servīre, which had been repurposed to reflect the new meaning of the noun *seru̯os. Rix hypothesizes that the Latin verb servāre "to watch over, look after" originally meant exclusively "to watch (the skies for an omen)," as a derivative of a noun *seru̯ā or *seru̯om "observation (of the skies)," and suggests that its senses expanded to cover those formerly held by the repurposed verb servīre.

Noun

derivative of serve entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun

1688, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing serve

• first come, first serve
• self-serve
• serve a purpose
• serve no purpose
• serve notice
• serve out
• serve the interests of
• serve the needs
• serve time
• serve two masters
• serve up
• soft serve

Rhymes for serve

• curve
• mirv
• nerve
• swerve
• verve
• conserve
• deserve
• manoeuvre
• observe
• preserve
• reserve
• subserve

Kids Definition

serve

1 of 2 verb

ˈsərv 

served; serving

1

a

: to be a servant

b

: to give the service and respect due

c

: to work through or perform a term of service

served five years in the marines

d

: to be in prison for or during

served a 10-year sentence

2

a

: to act officially as a clergyman or priest

serve mass

b

: to assist as server at mass

3

a

: to be of use : answer a purpose

the tree serves as shelter

b

: to be favorable or convenient

when the time serves

c

: to hold an office : perform a duty

serve on a jury

4

: to be enough for

a pie that will serve eight people

5

a

: to help persons to food (as at a table or counter)

b

: to set out portions of food or drink

6

a

: to furnish or supply with something needed or desired

b

: to wait on customers

7

: to treat or act toward in a certain way

they served me ill

8

: to bring to notice, deliver, or carry out as required by law

serve a summons

9

: to make a serve (as in tennis)

serve

2 of 2 noun

: the act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play (as in tennis or badminton)

Legal Definition

serve

transitive verb

served; serving

1

: to deliver, publish, or execute (notice or process) as required by law

no notice of any such request was ever served on the husband

—National Law Journal

2

: to make legal service upon (the person named in a process) : inform or notify by legal service

unless the city had been served with prior notice of a defect

—Gene Mustain

3

: to put in (a term of imprisonment)

has served five years of her sentence