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serve
has definitions from the fields of sport,tennis,work,food,sexuality
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[ verb ] serve a purpose, role, or function
Synonyms Examples "The tree stump serves as a table" "The female students served as a control group" "This table would serve very well" "His freedom served him well" The table functions as a desk" Used in print (Tristram P. Coffin, "Folklore in the American Twentieth...)In America , such self-deception has served a particularly useful purpose . (Handbook of Federal Aids to Communities. U.S. Dep...)SBA serves also as a clearing_house for information on products and processes particularly adaptable for exploitation by small firms . (Raymond C. Binder et al., editors, Proceedings...)Two pyrometers shown in figure 1 and 2 ( Pyrometer_Instrument_Co. Model 95 ) served for simultaneous measurement of the anode surface temperature and the temperature distribution along the anode holder . (B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)Its life_history is much simpler than that of the truly colonial bumblebees and can serve as an example of the life_cycle of many other species . (S. Idell Pyle, et al., Onsets, Completions, and...)The Onset Profile and Completion Profile are constructed to serve as norms for children . |
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[ verb ] (work) do duty or hold offices; serve in a specific function
Examples : "He served as head of the department for three years" "She served in Congress for two terms" Used in print ([Anonymous,] "The Attack on Employee Services"...)If you have a full-time doctor now , can he be replaced with a part-time doctor or one who serves on a fee per case basis only ? (Sports Age, 24:9...)SAAMI 's field men have served as consultants and / or have participated in 75 Teen Hunter Club activities which have reached over 40000 enthusiastic young Americans . (John Harnsberger and Robert P. Wilkins,...)Selkirk persuaded eighty men and four officers to go_to Red_River where they were to serve as a military_force to protect his settlers from the hostile Northwest_Company which resented the intrusion of farmers into the fur traders ' empire . (Kenneth Allsop, The Bootleggers and Their Era...)He had been a choir_boy at the Holy_Name_Cathedral and also served as an acolyte to Father_O_'_Brien . (Booton Herndon, "From Custer to Korea, The 7th Cavalry"...)Of all the thousands of men who have served in the 7_th_Cav , perhaps no one knows its spirit better than Lieutenant_Colonel_Melbourne_C._Chandler . |
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[ verb ] contribute or conduce to
Examples "The scandal served to increase his popularity" Used in print (The New York Times,...)The spirit served chiefly to lull the West while Moscow made inroads into the Middle_East . (The Providence Journal...)They serve to contradict a popular notion that the Comedie merely repeats , as accurately as possible , the techniques of acting the classics that prevailed in the 17 th century . All this will serve to show_off the Ory style in fine fashion and is a must for those who want to collect elements of the old-time jazz before it is too late to lay_hands_on the gems . (Huston Smith, "Interfaith Communication: The...)The truth is that any revival of traditional and indigenous religion will serve to promote that sense of identity and Volksgeist which these young nations very_much need . And in_this country Gustave_Weigel 's delineation of the line between the sacral and secular orders during the last presidential campaign served to provide a most impressive Roman_Catholic defense of the practical autonomy of both church and state . |
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[ verb ] be used by; as of a utility
Synonyms Examples : "The sewage plant served the neighboring communities" "The garage served to shelter his horses" Used in print (Saturday Review, 44: 15...)At one extreme are the systems of upper New_York State , where libraries in two or more counties combine to serve a large , sparsely populated area . At the other are organizations like the newly formed Nassau_Library_System , in a high-density area , with ample resources and a rapidly growing territory to serve . Each system develops differently , according to the area it serves , but the universal goal is to pool the resources of a given area for maximum efficiency . The basic state grant is thirty cents for_each_person served , and there is a further book incentive grant that provides an extra twenty cents up_to fifty cents per_capita , if a library spends a certain number of dollars . In Nassau_County , for_example , the heavily settled Long_Island suburb of New_York_City , the system is credited by the state with serving one million persons , a figure that has doubled since 1950 . |
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[ verb ] (food) help to some food; help with food or drink
Synonyms Examples "I served him three times, and after that he helped himself" Used in print (Rocky Mountain News, [Denver, Colorado]...)Cocktails will be served from 6 to 7 p. m. , with dinner at 7 and entertainment in_the_main dining_room immediately following . (The Dallas Morning News,...)Serve each breast on a thin slice of slow-baked ham and sprinkle with Thompson seedless grapes . (Ann Carnahan, Nick Manero's Cook-out Barbeque...)A story goes that a certain Herr_Feuchtwanger of St._Louis , around 1883 served his sausages ( grilled ) and mustard to his fancy customers . Serves 12 . (Covered Bridge Topics, XIX:2...)Jones relented , he did not order his men to apply the torch - the drove of livestock was driven up the valley , via Beverly , and across the mountains to feed and serve the Confederate army , while Jones and his raiders turned toward Buckhannon to join forces with Imboden . |
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[ verb ] (food) provide (usually but not necessarily food)
Examples "We serve meals for the homeless" "She dished out the soup at 8 P.M." "The entertainers served up a lively show" Used in print (John Dos Passos, Midcentury....)Whenever the place was cleaned or a meal served it was Precious who did the work . |
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[ verb ] (work) devote (part of) one's life or efforts to, as of countries, institutions, or ideas
Examples : "She served the art of music" "He served the church" "serve the country" Used in print (Musical America, LXXXI:5...)By 1937 he had clarified his intentions to serve his people : `` I have striven for clarity and melodious idiom , but at_the_same_time I have by_no_means attempted to restrict myself to the accepted methods of harmony and melody . In the process , his native endowments were stretched , strengthened and disciplined to serve their human purpose . With a large and circumspect 20_th Century technique , he wove the materials of national heroes and events , national folklore and children 's fairy_tales - Slavic dances and love songs - into a solid musical literature which served his people well , and is providing much enjoyment to the World at_large . (Bern Dibner, "Oerstad and the Discovery of Electro...)Oersted 's boyhood represented a minimal chance of either attaining greatness or serving his people so well and over so long a span of life . He also met Count_Rumford ( born Benjamin_Thompson in Woburn,_Mass . ) who was then serving the Elector_of_Bavaria , and the physicist Ritter ; these were Oersted 's main contacts in science . Related terms |
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[ verb ] promote, benefit, or be useful or beneficial to
Synonyms Examples "Art serves commerce" "Their interests are served" "The lake serves recreation" "The President's wisdom has served the country well" Used in print (Barry Goldwater, "A Foreign Policy for America"...)We served our national interests , and by so doing we saved the Guatemalan people the ultimate in human misery . (Statements 87th Congress, 1st Session. Appropriations,...)cause on-site inspections to be made of promising projects , domestic and foreign , and , in the case of projects located in the United_States , cooperate and participate in their development in instances in which the purposes of_this Act will be served thereby ; (87th Congress, 1st Session. Congressional Record....)Which will serve not_only the best interest of the stockholders , but the interests of all the traveling public ? (U.S. Reports. Volume 366. Cases Adjudged in the...)Indeed , as already noted , the Court proceeded on the assumption that the executives involved in the dealings between du_Pont and General_Motors acted `` honorably and fairly '' and exercised their business judgment only to serve what they deemed the best interests of their own companies . |
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[ verb ] work for or be a servant to
Examples "May I serve you?" "She attends the old lady in the wheelchair" "Can you wait on our table, please?" "Is a salesperson assisting you?" "The minister served the King for many years" Used in print (Evan Esar, Humorous English; a guide to comic ,...)Another less ambiguous case read as_follows : `` The bearer of_this letter has served me for two years to his complete satisfaction . |
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[ verb ] spend time in prison or in a labor camp
Synonyms Examples "He did six years for embezzlement" Used in print (Kenneth Allsop, The Bootleggers and Their Era...)O_'_Banion 's first conflict with the police came in 1909 , at seventeen , when he was committed to Bridewell_Prison for three months for burglary ; two years later he served another three months for assault . |
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[ verb ] deliver a warrant or summons to someone
Examples "He was processed by the sheriff" Used in print (Jim Berry Pearson, The Maxwell Land Grant....)Although wanted by the sheriff for killing an old_man named Asher_Jones , the warrant for his arrest had never been served . (Bruce Palmer, "My Brother's Keeper", Many Are...)He had thought that the suggestion of taking it himself would tip the colonel in the direction of serving his own order , but the slip_of_paper was folded and absently thrust into the colonel 's belt . |
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[ verb ] be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity
Examples "A few words would answer" "This car suits my purpose well" "Will $100 do?" "A "B" grade doesn't suffice to get me into medical school" "Nothing else will serve" Related terms satisfy qualify go_a_long_way go_around tide_over sufficiency |
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[ verb ] (tennis) put the ball into play; as in games like tennis
Examples "It was Agassi's turn to serve" Related terms |
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[ verb ] (work) do military service
Examples "She served in Vietnam" "My sons never served, because they are short-sighted" Related terms |
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