serve

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Send magazine issues due to a subscriber. An individual who subscribes for a 12-issue term is served 12 issues.

verb

1. To work and care for: attend, do for, minister to, wait on (or upon). See care for/neglect.
2. To place food before (someone): wait on (or upon). See ingestion.
3. To spend or complete (time), as a prison term: put in. Informal do. See time.
4. To perform the duties of another: act, function, officiate. See do/not do, substitute.
5. To meet a need or requirement: answer, do, suffice, suit. See excess/insufficiency/enough, help/harm/harmless.
6. To be an advantage to: advantage, avail, benefit, profit. Archaic boot². Idioms: stand someone in good stead. See help/harm/harmless.

Idioms beginning with serve:
serve a purpose
serve one right
serve time

See also break someone's serve; first come, first served; hand to on a silver platter (serve up on a plate).

v

Definition: act, do
Antonyms: refrain, refuse

v

Definition: aid, help; supply
Antonyms: receive, take

v. 1. be employed as a member of the armed forces: a military engineer who served with the army.

2. operate (a gun): before long Lodge was the only man in his section able to serve the guns.

3. bind (a rope) with thin cord to protect or strengthen it.

4. perform duties or services for (another person or an organization): Malcolm has served the church very faithfully.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

IN BRIEF: To help; to dish out food; to do someone else's bidding.

The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity. — Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), Russian novelist.

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sign description: Both open hands with palms facing up move in a back and forth motion.

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noun
noun, Austral

to give (someone) a serve To deal roughly with; to criticize or reprimand sharply. (1967 —) .
Woman's Day (Sydney): 'Yeah,' he said, 'Oges is set to give the Poms a serve' (1983).

Previous:	seriously, sergeant-major, septic tank
Next:	sesh, set, set-up

For a list of words related to serve, see:

• Tennis

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See words rhyming with "serve."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Serve.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - servere, betjene, ekspedere, forkynde, (zool) bedække
v. intr. - være til tjeneste, være indkaldt, tjene et formål, varte op, være til nytte
n. - tjene, gøre tjeneste, være ansat, passe, være egnet

idioms:

• it will serve    det vil du
• serve a person right    have ærligt fortjent, have godt af
• serve a sentence    aftjene en straf
• serve out    uddele, udlevere
• serve the purpose of    tjene et formål
• serve time    sidde i fængsel, aftjene sin straf
• serve up    servere, rette maden an, diske op

Nederlands (Dutch)
dienen, bedienen, serveren, opdienen, voldoen, paren, opslag

Français (French)
v. tr. - servir, travailler au service de, (Culin) servir, alimenter, desservir (une région), servir (des intérêts), être utile à, (Pol) remplir un mandat, faire son temps de service (dans l'armée), purger sa peine (en prison), (Jur) délivrer (une injonction), (Jur, fig) signifier qch à qn, (Sport) servir, couvrir/saillir (vache, jument)
v. intr. - servir, être au service de, faire le service, exercer ses fonctions (de), (Mil) servir (comme, sous), faire l'affaire, (Sport) servir (pour)
n. - (Sport) service

idioms:

• it will serve    cela fera l'affaire
• serve a sentence    purger une peine
• serve out    (Culin) servir, distribuer, finir (un mandat), purger (une peine de prison)
• serve someone right    servir de leçon à qn
• serve the purpose of    faire l'affaire
• serve time    purger une peine de prison, faire son temps de service (dans l'armée)
• serve up    (Culin) servir, (fig) resservir (péj)

Deutsch (German)
v. - dienen, bedienen, servieren, nutzen, dienlich sein, ausreichen, durchlaufen, verbüßen, versorgen, zustellen, aufschlagen, decken, Dienst tun
n. - Aufschlag

idioms:

• it will serve    das geht schon
• serve a sentence    die Strafe absitzen
• serve out    ableisten, ausgeben
• serve someone right    die richtige Strafe für jdn. sein
• serve the purpose of    den Zweck erfüllen, daß
• serve time    die Zeit ableisten
• serve up    auftischen, servieren

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - εξυπηρετώ, υπηρετώ, σερβίρω, χρησιμεύω, επιδίδω (ένταλμα κ.λπ.), θητεύω, εκτίω (ποινή)
n. - (αθλοπ.) σερβί(ρισμα)

idioms:

• it will serve    κάνει (για τη δουλειά)
• serve a person right    καλά να πάθει
• serve a sentence    εκτίω ποινή
• serve out    διανέμω, σερβίρω
• serve the purpose of    εξυπηρετώ το σκοπό..
• serve time    εκτίω ποινή
• serve up    προσφέρω

Italiano (Italian)
bastare, servire, portare in tavola, accoppiarsi, fare il servizio militare, servizio

idioms:

• it will serve    sarà sufficiente
• serve a person right    se lo merita
• serve a sentence    scontare una pena
• serve out    servire
• serve the purpose of    servire per
• serve time    essere in prigione
• serve up    portare in tavola

Português (Portuguese)
v. - estar de serviço, estar de plantão, servir, prestar serviço, servir alimentos,, armar,, carregar, funcionar,, bater desp.,, honrar

idioms:

• it will serve    servirá
• serve a person right    servir bem uma pessoa
• serve a sentence    cumprir uma pena
• serve out    servir a
• serve the purpose of    servir a um objetivo
• serve time    tempo de reclusão
• serve up    servir a mesa

Русский (Russian)
служить, состоять на службе, служить в армии, обслуживать, снабжать, заниматься клиентами, выполнять назначение, быть полезным, удовлетворять, отбывать срок (службы, наказания), обходиться (с кем-л.), подавать мяч, доставлять, спаривать

idioms:

• it will serve    это то, что нужно
• serve a person right    поделом!, так ему и надо!
• serve a sentence    отбывать срок наказания
• serve out    раздавать, отплатить, отбыть (срок наказания)
• serve the purpose of    служить какой-либо цели
• serve time    отбывать срок наказания
• serve up    подавать (на стол)

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - ser suficiente, servir, hacer el servicio militar, servicio, saque, despachar, sacar la pelota (en ciertos juegos), cumplir, llenar, surtir, abastecer, ayudar, asistir, manejar, dar cumplimiento, ejecutar, notificar, bastar
v. intr. - servir, ser favorable, oportuno o conveniente, despachar
n. - servicio, saque

idioms:

• it will serve    bastará, será adecuado
• serve a sentence    cumplir una condena
• serve out    servir, repartir
• serve someone right    atender a alguien correctamente
• serve the purpose of    utilizarse como, usarse en vez de
• serve time    cumplir una condena
• serve up    servir (comida), escanciar, abastecer

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - tjäna, arbeta hos, hjälpa, tjänstgöra, betjäna, servera, sätta fram, ta in, sköta, duga åt, fullgöra, behandla, fungera, duga, passa, serva
n. - serve (sport)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
为...服务, 供应, 为...服役, 侍候, 服务, 供职, 服役, 帮佣, 发球, 开球

idioms:

• it will serve    能用
• serve a person right    给某人应得的报应, 活该
• serve a sentence    服刑, 坐牢
• serve out    分发口粮, 服满
• serve the purpose of    ...的用途
• serve time    服刑
• serve up    端上, 上菜

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 為...服務, 供應, 為...服役, 侍候
v. intr. - 服務, 供職, 服役, 幫傭
n. - 發球, 開球

idioms:

• it will serve    能用
• serve a person right    給某人應得的報應, 活該
• serve a sentence    服刑, 坐牢
• serve out    分發口糧, 服滿
• serve the purpose of    ...的用途
• serve time    服刑
• serve up    端上, 上菜

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 섬기다, 식사 시중을 들다, (날씨, 바람 등이) 알맞다
v. intr. - 섬기다, ~을 제공하다, (손님의) 시중을 들다
n. - (테니스 따위에서) 서브 , 서브권

idioms:

• serve out    (음식 따위를) 덜다, 분배하다, (어느 기간) 복무를 다 마치다
• serve up    (요리를 어떤 상태로) 차려내다, (묵은 이야기 등을) 되풀이하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 仕える, 勤める, 勤め上げる, 出す, 給仕する, 役に立つ, かなう, 供給する, 応対をする, 送達する, 勤務する, 配膳する
n. - サーブ, サーブの順番

idioms:

• serve a person right    当然の報いである, いい気味である
• serve a sentence    刑期を勤める
• serve a writ on    逮捕状を送る
• serve out    出す, 勤め上げる
• serve the purpose of    目的にかなう
• serve time    服役する
• serve up    給仕する, 食事を出す, 蒸し返す

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يساعد, ينفع, يخدم (الاسم) ألخدمه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮שירת, עבד, סיפק, נתן, הגיש לשולחן, התייחס כלפי-, חבט בכדור (בטניס), הרביע, מסר צו, המשיך בירי (ברובה, תותח וכו')‬
v. intr. - ‮שירת ב-, שימש כ-, התאים ליציאה מהנמל (גובה הגיאות)‬
n. - ‮חבטת פתיחה (טניס), הגשה‬

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