SERVE | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of serve in English serveverb uk /sɜːv/ us /sɝːv/

serve verb (PROVIDE FOOD/DRINK)

Add to word list Add to word list A2 [ I or T ] to provide food or drinks: Do they serve meals in the bar? Breakfast is served in the restaurant between 7.00 and 11.00.be served with We arrived at the hotel and were served with champagne and canapés. All recipes in this book, unless otherwise stated, will serve (= be enough for) four to five people. [ + obj + adj ] Serve the pie warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

• Both recipes serve four easily.
• They serve pretty decent food in the cafeteria.
• They didn't even serve wine at dinner.
• I usually serve dessert with coffee.
• Breakfast is served in the dining room from 8.30–10.

Providing & serving meals

• all around
• bowl of something
• bus
• cakeage
• cater
• catering
• dish
• gourmet
• grazing
• ladle
• lay on a spread
• plate
• plate something up phrasal verb
• provision
• self-catering
• table service
• take something away phrasal verb
• take something out phrasal verb
• unserved
• wait

See more results »

serve verb (WORK)

C1 [ I or T ] to work for; to do your duty to: serve in He served in the army for 22 years.serve on She has served on the committee for the last 15 years.serve under He served under Ronald Reagan as Secretary of State.

• He served for eight years as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
• Police officers aren't usually allowed to be serve on a jury.
• Panellists on the Arts Review Board serve for a maximum of three years.
• A police officer is there to enforce the law as well as to serve the local community.
• A minister's primary obligation is to serve the public.

Applying for a job

• acqui-hire
• advertisement
• anoint
• anointed
• applicant
• employ
• employable
• employment
• employment agency
• enlisted
• equality, diversity and inclusion
• nominate
• nominee
• reapplication
• reappointment
• recommission
• recruitment
• recruitment drive
• referee
• speculative

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serve verb (HELP ACHIEVE)

C1 [ I or T ] to help achieve something or to be useful as something: serve a purpose An official investigation would not serve any useful purpose.serve as The judge said that the fine would serve as a warning to other drivers. In the absence of anything better the settee could serve as a bed for a couple of nights. [ + to infinitive ] Nothing serves to explain the violent fighting we have seen recently.serve for old-fashioned My umbrella will serve for a weapon. useless

• uselessWe have cleared out carloads of useless junk.
• no useMoney is no use if it's just sitting there.
• serve no purposeSuch warnings serve no purpose other than to scare the public.
• pointlessShe sees cleaning as a pointless exercise since everything is going to get dirty again.
• worthlessThe majority of objects in the exhibition are worthless junk.

See more results » [ I or T ] mainly US If something serves you, it is good or helpful for you: If your anger doesn't serve you, let it go. You're growing and changing, so your "stick with it" motto may not be serving you well.

• She has a very forceful personality which will serve her well in politics.
• Tougher prison sentences may serve as a deterrent to other would-be offenders.
• The spare bedroom also serves as an office.
• Do the exercises serve any useful purpose?
• The museum serves as a reminder of this terrible episode in recent history.

Performing a function

• act
• act as something phrasal verb
• discharge
• function as something/someone phrasal verb
• functional
• functionalist
• high-performance
• hyperfunction
• man
• manned
• multifunction
• multifunctional
• on it idiom
• operate
• purpose
• run
• take
• undischarged
• work
• work a treat idiom

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Useful or advantageous

serve verb (PROVIDE STH NECESSARY)

[ T ] to provide with something that is needed: The report says the police are out of touch with the communities that they serve.

• Heraklion airport serves the eastern resorts.
• This one company serves the entire West coast.
• The rail network serves the southeast of the country.
• These post offices serve the needs of the local communities.
• Hydro-power serves the most isolated communities in Scotland.

Giving, providing and supplying

• accommodate
• accommodate someone with something
• administer
• administration
• afford
• arm someone with something
• be good for something idiom
• go around phrasal verb
• go round phrasal verb
• hand something around phrasal verb
• hand something back phrasal verb
• outfit
• provider
• provision
• purvey
• purveyor
• put something on phrasal verb
• re-equip
• render
• tender

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serve verb (DEAL WITH CUSTOMER)

B1 [ T ] in a shop, restaurant, or hotel, to deal with a customer by taking their order, showing or selling them goods, etc.: UK Are you being served, madam?US Have you been served, ma'am? That's the restaurant where they refused to serve John because he was so rude. Selling

• auction
• Black Friday
• bundle
• bundle something with something
• bundling
• concession
• hock
• missell
• misselling
• MLM
• network marketing
• outsell
• ply
• salable
• saleable
• sales drive
• sales pitch
• salesmanship
• sell something off phrasal verb
• sting

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serve verb (SPEND TIME)

C2 [ T ] to spend a period of time doing something: serve something in prison He served four years in prison for robbery.serve an apprenticeship After he'd served his apprenticeship he set up his own business.  serve time to spend time in prison: He's serving time for drug offences. See more Spending time & time passing

• all the time in the world idiom
• Anno Domini
• drag on
• elapse
• employ
• fly
• gone
• kill time, an hour, etc. idiom
• pass
• roll
• roll by phrasal verb
• run out phrasal verb
• slip
• the sands of time idiom
• time is on someone's side idiom
• time's a great healer idiom
• timekeeper
• wear
• wear on phrasal verb
• while something away phrasal verb

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serve verb (HIT BALL)

[ I or T ] in sports such as tennis, to hit the ball to the other player as a way of starting the game: Whose turn is it to serve? That's the third ace you've served this game. Tennis & racket sports

• ace
• alley
• approach shot
• backcourt
• ball boy
• ball girl
• chip
• forecourt
• forehand
• outhit
• paddle tennis
• paddleball
• padel
• passing shot
• pelota
• rally
• seed
• shuttlecock
• tramlines
• unseeded

See more results »

serve verb (GIVE DOCUMENT)

[ T ]   law   specialized to give a legal document to someone, demanding that they go to a law court or that they obey an order: serve a writ on Less than two weeks ago Gough finally served a writ on Slater, claiming damages for alleged loss of royalties.be served with Each person served with a summons will be given six weeks before they have to appear in the Magistrates' Court. Taking legal action

• abatement order
• ambulance chasing
• appear for someone phrasal verb
• bring
• bring an action
• complainant
• enter
• indemnification
• indemnify
• indict
• indict someone for something/doing something
• indictable
• indictable offence
• lawfare
• petitioner
• proceedings
• promisee
• promisor
• prosecute
• prosecution

See more results »

Idioms

if my memory serves me right serve someone right

Phrasal verbs

serve out serve something out serve something up serve (something) up servenoun [ C ] uk /sɜːv/ us /sɝːv/ (also service) in sports such as tennis, the act of hitting the ball to the other player to start play: It's your serve.break someone's serve Murray broke Federer's serve (= he won a game in which Federer hit the ball first). Tennis & racket sports

• ace
• alley
• approach shot
• backcourt
• ball boy
• ball girl
• chip
• forecourt
• forehand
• outhit
• paddle tennis
• paddleball
• padel
• passing shot
• pelota
• rally
• seed
• shuttlecock
• tramlines
• unseeded

See more results » (Definition of serve from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

serve | American Dictionary

serveverb us /sɜrv/

serve verb (HELP)

Add to word list Add to word list [ I/T ] (esp. of a person working in a restaurant or store) to help a customer by getting what someone needs or by showing or selling goods, or to provide food or drinks to a customer or guest: [ T ] We’ve been in the restaurant for half an hour and we’re still waiting to be served. [ T ] Breakfast is served between seven and nine every morning. [ I/T ] We’ll be ready to serve (lunch) soon. [ I/T ] To serve is also to provide an area or group of people with something that is needed: [ T ] As long as I am your representative, I will continue to serve the needs of this community.

serve verb (WORK)

[ I/T ] to work for, or to carry out your duty: [ I ] He served in the US Navy for twelve years. [ T ] If memory serves me right (= If I am remembering correctly), I was 13 at the time.

serve verb (SPEND TIME)

[ T ] to spend a period of time in a job or activity: He served three terms in the senate.

serve verb (HELP ACHIEVE)

[ I/T ] to help achieve something, or to be useful as something: [ + to infinitive ] Tougher prison sentences, he said, will serve to deter crime. [ I ] The sofa can serve as (= be used as) a bed for a couple of nights.

serve verb (HIT BALL)

[ I/T ] (in tennis and other sports) to hit the ball to the other player or team as a way of starting play

Idiom

it serves someone right

Phrasal verbs

serve out something serve up something servenoun [ C ] us/sɜrv/

serve noun [C] (HITTING BALL)

(in tennis and other sports) the act of hitting the ball to the other player or team to start play : He's got a powerful serve. (Definition of serve from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

serve | Business English

serveverb uk /sɜːv/ us Add to word list Add to word list [ T ] to provide people or a place with products or services or something that is needed: serve customers/clients There is a new 24-hour bus that serves the airport. [ I or T ] to help achieve something or to be useful as something: serve to do sth The new procedures serve to stop economic growth. The phone application needs to serve a purpose. [ T ]   COMMERCE in a shop, restaurant, or hotel, to deal with a customer by taking their order, showing or selling them goods, etc.: She spends all day on the shop floor serving customers. Are you being served? [ I or T ] to provide food or drinks: He was served dinner in his room. Breakfast is served between 7 and 9. [ I or T ] to spend time doing a job, training for a job, or having a responsibility: serve as sth He became a city commissioner and went on to serve as mayor. After serving an apprenticeship with his father, he received a scholarship to study in Italy. [ T ]   LAW to give a legal document to someone, demanding that they go to a court of law or that they obey an order: The pension trustees served a writ last Friday in New York.serve sb with sth She was served with a summons to court.

Phrasal verb

serve sth out (Definition of serve from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of serve

serve This evidence suggests that planning and control each serve a specialized purpose utilizing distinct visual representations. From the Cambridge English Corpus The possibility remains, however, that the pamphlet was not used in performance but served a purely symbolic purpose. From the Cambridge English Corpus And finally, what purposes (psychological, social, cultural) does such canon formation serve? From the Cambridge English Corpus The teachers, as working women who were active in civic affairs, served as role models to the pupils. From the Cambridge English Corpus It is not clear how dynamical systems serve as a psychological explanation as opposed to a complex description of behavior. From the Cambridge English Corpus When the server starts up, it parses the configuration file, and if there are no errors found, immediately starts serving requests. From the Cambridge English Corpus Often, the legal system (and/or its functionaries) serves as a barrier to any proper resolution of the questions surrounding the narrative and plot structure. From the Cambridge English Corpus The core of the material is presented in sufficient detail that the survey may serve as a text for teaching constrained global optimization. From the Cambridge English Corpus Our paper served to report about specific systems, a composition, and a performance. From the Cambridge English Corpus The notion of "change over time" in dream content (from ancestral themes to current themes) is problematic because such change would serve no obvious function. From the Cambridge English Corpus Along with fundoscopy, individual color spaces may serve for monitoring early functional changes and thereby to support a treatment strategy. From the Cambridge English Corpus In fact, the controlled laboratory events that served as the mnemonic targets of this investigation were relatively pedestrian. From the Cambridge English Corpus This is a reasonable assumption because individual trees serving as parents are usually selected randomly from natural populations. From the Cambridge English Corpus The differences in the contexts in which these vessels were used indicate that they varied in their suitability to serve in social strategies. From the Cambridge English Corpus The food is typically served only after any business, such as praying, is complete, and only then is there much conversation. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of serve These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of serve?

Translations of serve

in Chinese (Traditional) 提供食物／飲料, 提供（食物或飲料）, 工作… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 提供食物／饮料, 提供（食物或饮料）, 工作… See more in Spanish servir, cumplir (una sentencia), sacar… See more in Portuguese servir, cumprir, trabalhar… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian वाढणे, नोकरी करणे, सेवा बजावणे… See more （～に）食事を出す, （客）に対応する, 接客する… See more hizmet etmek, servis yapmak, görev yapmak… See more servir, exercer, être membre de… See more servir (menjar o beguda), atendre, servir… See more dienen, bedienen, uitzitten… See more உணவு அல்லது பானங்கள் வழங்க, வேலை செய்ய வேண்டும், உங்கள் கடமையைச் செய்ய… See more (भोजन या पेय) परोसना, कार्य करना, अपना कर्त्तव्य निभाना… See more પીરસવું, સેવા, ફરજ બજાવવી… See more tjene, servere, betjene… See more tjäna, servera, betjäna… See more bekerja sebagai pembantu rumah, menghidangkan, boleh digunakan… See more servieren, dienen, absitzen… See more servere, tjene, gjøre tjeneste… See more کھانا پیناپیش کرنا, سرو کرنا, ملنا… See more служити, подавати, обслуговувати… See more వడ్డించడం, ఎవరికోసమైనా పని చేయు, కర్తవ్యం నిర్వర్తించు… See more পরিবেশন করা, খাবার বা পানীয় বন্টন করা, সেবা করা… See more sloužit, podávat, obsluhovat… See more melayani, menghidangkan, cocok… See more รับใช้, บริการอาหาร, เหมาะสมกับจุดประสงค์… See more phục vụ, dọn ăn, hợp với… See more obsługiwać, podawać, służyć… See more 제공하다, 시중을 들다, (조직이나 사회를 위해) 일하다… See more servire, scontare (condanna), essere membro di… See more Need a translator?

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serum hepatitis serum sickness serval servant serve serve a purpose phrase serve on something serve out phrasal verb serve someone right idiom {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of serve

• soft serve
• serve on something
• serve out something phrasal verb
• serve up something phrasal verb
• soft-serve, at soft serve
• serve something up phrasal verb
• serve (something) up phrasal verb

See all meanings

• serve out something phrasal verb
• serve up something phrasal verb
• serve something up phrasal verb
• serve (something) up phrasal verb
• serve out phrasal verb
• serve sth out phrasal verb
• serve something out phrasal verb

See all phrasal verb meanings

• it serves someone right idiom
• serve time phrase
• break (serve) phrase
• serve someone right idiom
• serve a purpose phrase
• serve time, at do time idiom
• serve/sit/be on the bench phrase

See all idioms and phrases

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• English   
  • Verb 
    • serve (PROVIDE FOOD/DRINK)
    • serve (WORK)
    • serve (HELP ACHIEVE)
    • serve (PROVIDE STH NECESSARY)
    • serve (DEAL WITH CUSTOMER)
    • serve (SPEND TIME)
    • serve time
    • serve (HIT BALL)
    • serve (GIVE DOCUMENT)
  Noun
• American   
  • Verb 
    • serve (HELP)
    • serve (WORK)
    • serve (SPEND TIME)
    • serve (HELP ACHIEVE)
    • serve (HIT BALL)
  • Noun 
    • serve (HITTING BALL)
• Business   Verb
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

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