serve

verb

ˈsərv How to pronounce serve (audio)
Definition of servenext
1
as in to attend
to be a servant for he served his master faithfully for 20 years

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in to suffice
to be enough they made the pasta serve for eight guests

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in to do
to be fitting or proper those old riding boots will serve for now, but you'll need newer ones for the horse show

Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in to treat
to behave toward in a stated way my parents served me well in preparing me for life

Synonyms & Similar Words
5
as in to act
to have a certain purpose the harsh punishment served to teach everyone a lesson

Synonyms & Similar Words
6
as in to benefit
to provide with something useful or desirable an excellent college that served her with the skills necessary to make it in today's job market

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of serve The gathering centered around a street vendor making elote to order and serving fresh, hot cocoa-like champurrado. — Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026 Other airlines that serve the Sacramento airport also offer flights to Oahu, but with stopovers, according to those airline websites and FlightAware. — Sacbee.com, 28 Oct. 2026 Unfortunately, his dog-and-phony show served a grimmer purpose. — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Oct. 2026 Bolsonaro, 45, was served with the order to surrender his passports Monday, a day after his election loss. — Matthew Lee, Arkansas Online, 28 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for serve
Recent Examples of Synonyms for serve
  1. attend
  2. suffice
  3. do
  4. treat
  5. act
  6. benefit
  7. fit
  8. handle
Verb
  • Edmond and fellow applicant Jessica Thibodeaux attended the meeting, and each addressed the council to discuss their background and interest in civic service.
    — Randy Moll, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Ronnie Smith, 66, of Schertz, Texas, was among the more than 1,000 people that the Talarico campaign said attended his San Antonio rally with actress Eva Longoria.
    — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of attend
Verb
  • So suffice it to say Shultz went into the new Holmes documentary with some baggage.
    — Amanda Erickson, STAT, 20 Oct. 2026
  • In Season Two, the couple dealt with making the relationship work, which culminates in tensions between the pair — and without totally spoiling it, suffice to say that does not end so well.
    — Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of suffice
Verb
  • There are rippling gasps, drums, strings, sax, a vaguely Latin guitar, a sample of a woman talking about getting her hair done.
    — Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Sellers who have the option to pull their listing off the market are generally doing so.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of do
Verb
  • The family-friendly festivities include trick-or-treating bags for the first 250 children younger than 12 in the vendor and tattoo rooms on Saturday, plus a kids’ costume contest where every participating child wins and specialty drinks.
    — Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Bass, who was married to a Chicano and treats her ex-husband’s children as her own, isn’t fluent but has a robust Spanish-language outreach for her campaign, complete with ads, mailers and websites.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of treat
Verb
  • After Maduro was deposed, Venezuela's highest court said Rodríguez could serve as acting president for up to 90 days -- an interim appointment that could be extended by the National Assembly for an additional 90 days.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
  • And yesterday is one of those days when your family ain’t acting right.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of act
Verb
  • Now Republicans are the ones who bend the maps to benefit their party.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Coupled with job-displacement fears from AI, opponents now point to the facilities as a physical symbol of who benefits from the boom and who gets stuck with the bill.
    — Luke Fountain, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of benefit
Verb
  • Engineers must fit every component within that envelope, limiting the size of equipment such as antennas and power systems.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Riel Karmy-Jones, the prosecution barrister, accused Brand of retrofitting his definitions to fit his evidence.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of fit
Verb
  • From there, congressional leadership would have to decide how to handle the impasse, with three cases over the last five decades to draw on as precedent.
    — David Sivak, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2026
  • AgiBot says the model can also handle dexterous manipulation without requiring additional fine-tuning for every new activity.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of handle

Browse Nearby Words

servants
serve
served
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Cite this Entry

“Serve.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serve. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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