serve
serve — verb
1. to put food or drinks in front of people so they can eat or drink, especially at
to put food or drinks in front of people so they can eat or drink, especially at a meal, party, or restaurant
Jessica served the soup in small white bowls with warm bread on the side.
serve + object + in + container
At Thai weddings, the rice is usually served before the curry.
passive: be served
Hassan poured the tea and served his guests slices of date cake.
serve + somebody + something (double object)
The waiter said the steak should be served hot, not warm.
serve + object + adjective (hot/cold)
Felipe will serve dinner at seven, so please come down by then.
- serve breakfast
- serve hot
- serve chilled
- serve with rice
- serve in bowls
Grammar Patterns
serve + food/drink
serve + somebody + food
serve + food + adjective (hot/cold/chilled)
Usage Note
Frequently passive when the food itself is the subject ('the fish is served with lemon'). Often takes an adjective complement describing the dish's state (hot, cold, chilled, raw).
Common Mistakes
2. to attend to a customer behind the counter of a shop, bar, or hotel — writing do
to attend to a customer behind the counter of a shop, bar, or hotel — writing down what they want, fetching items, or handling payment
Christopher served the next customer in the queue with a polite smile.
serve + customer (retail context)
Are you being served, sir, or are you still looking around?
fixed shop phrase: 'are you being served?'
Eliska served at the bakery counter every Saturday throughout her university years.
serve at + counter (intransitive use)
Eric was annoyed because nobody had served him for fifteen minutes.
passive: be served (negative)
The young waiter who served us last night remembered every order without notes.
relative clause: who served us
- serve a customer
- serve at the counter
- be served promptly
- serve with a smile
Grammar Patterns
serve + customer
be served by + somebody
are you being served?
Usage Note
Frequently passive ('was I served?', 'are you being served?'). Distinguish from sense 1: sense 1 focuses on the food itself ('she served the soup'); this sense focuses on the customer ('she served the man at table four').
Common Mistakes
3. to work for an organisation, country, or cause, often loyally and over a long pe
to work for an organisation, country, or cause, often loyally and over a long period — for example as a soldier, government official, or employee
Arjun served the railway company for thirty years before retiring last June.
serve + organisation (long-period)
Both of Apinya's grandfathers served in the Thai navy during the 1960s.
serve in + branch of military
Tariq has served as the village doctor since the old clinic reopened.
serve as + role
Priya felt proud to serve her country, even when the duty was hard.
serve + country (loyalty register)
Heloísa serves on the school board and writes a weekly column for the parish newsletter.
serve on + body (current loyalty service)
- serve the country
- serve in the army
- serve as president
- serve loyally
- serve the public
Grammar Patterns
serve + organisation/country/cause
serve as + role
serve in + military/government
Usage Note
Object is typically an institution (a company, the army, a church, the public), a country, or a cause — not an individual person in modern usage. Carries a tone of duty or loyalty; for ordinary employment, use 'work for'.
Common Mistakes
4. to be useful for a particular purpose, or to function as something — for example
to be useful for a particular purpose, or to function as something — for example, an old box that serves as a chair when guests arrive
An empty paint tin can serve as a stool when there are too many guests.
serve as + noun (substitute use)
The photo serves to remind Takeshi of his hometown in Hokkaido.
serve to + infinitive (purpose)
Loud arguments rarely serve any useful purpose at the dinner table.
serve + a/any purpose
Fatima's detailed notes served the team well during the long investigation.
serve + somebody + well/badly
These wooden crates will serve until the proper shelves arrive next week.
serve (intransitive: be adequate)
- serve as
- serve to remind
- serve a purpose
- serve well
- serve no purpose
- function as
neutral, slightly more formal
- act as
emphasises a temporary or substitute role
- do
informal; 'this will do as a pillow'
Grammar Patterns
serve as + noun
serve to + infinitive
serve + purpose
Usage Note
Distinguish from sense 3 ('work for an institution'): here the subject is usually a thing or abstract action, and the meaning is functional rather than employment-based. Often appears with 'as' (function) or 'to + infinitive' (purpose).
Common Mistakes
5. to give a regular supply, service, or facility to a place or group of people — t
to give a regular supply, service, or facility to a place or group of people — typically said of buses, hospitals, power lines, or shops
Two buses serve the mountain villages every morning except Sundays.
transport + serve + area
The new clinic serves about four thousand families across three farming districts.
serve + group of people
A single power line serves the whole island of Lotte's grandparents.
utility + serve + area
Anya's bakery has served the neighbourhood with fresh sourdough for ten years.
serve + area + with + product
The library is the only one serving children in the Watanabe district.
serve + group (sole provider)
- serve a community
- serve an area
- serve a region
- serve a route
- serve a population
Grammar Patterns
serve + area/group
serve + somebody + with + something
Usage Note
Subject is typically a service, utility, or facility (a bus route, a hospital, a power line, a shop); object is the area or community receiving the service. Use 'with' to add the specific product or service supplied.
Common Mistakes
6. to spend a fixed length of time in jail or prison as punishment for a crime.
to spend a fixed length of time in jail or prison as punishment for a crime.
Rania served six months in jail for tax fraud before being released early.
serve + duration + in + [prison]
Dahlia is serving a ten-year sentence at the federal prison in Texas.
serve + a [length] sentence
Hao served two years for theft and now runs a small bakery in Taipei.
The judge ruled that Megan must serve at least three years before applying for parole.
modal + serve + duration
- serve a sentence
- serve time
- serve five years
- serve a life sentence
- do
informal: 'do time', 'do five years' — same meaning, casual register
Grammar Patterns
serve + [length of sentence]
serve + time
Usage Note
Object is the length of time or the sentence itself ('serve five years', 'serve a life sentence'). Distinct from sense 10: this sense is restricted to imprisonment as criminal punishment, while sense 10 covers any fixed appointment or duty.
Common Mistakes
7. in tennis, volleyball, badminton, and similar games, to begin a point by hitting
in tennis, volleyball, badminton, and similar games, to begin a point by hitting the ball (or, in badminton, the shuttlecock) toward your opponent.
Noa tossed the ball high and served an ace down the center line.
serve + an ace (object = type of serve)
It was Élise's turn to serve, so she walked back to the baseline.
intransitive: whose turn it is to serve
Xiu served the shuttlecock low and short, just clearing the net.
serve + [shuttlecock] in badminton
The umpire warned the player for serving before the receiver was ready.
- serve an ace
- serve a fault
- serve the ball
- serve for the match
- receive
the opposing action: receive the ball after the opponent serves
Grammar Patterns
serve + [the ball]
serve (intransitive)
Usage Note
Used both transitively (with 'the ball', 'an ace', 'a winner' as object) and intransitively ('it's your turn to serve'). The subject is the player who starts the point, never the receiver.
Common Mistakes
8. to formally hand or deliver an official court paper to a person, requiring that
to formally hand or deliver an official court paper to a person, requiring that person to attend a court hearing or comply with a judge's order.
A court officer served the landlord with an eviction notice on Tuesday morning.
serve + [person] + with + [document]
The summons was served on the company secretary at her downtown office.
passive: be served on + [person]
Lawyers for the plaintiff served divorce papers on her husband last Friday.
serve + [legal document] + on + [person]
Police officers tried for weeks to serve the witness with a subpoena, but he kept moving house.
- serve a summons
- serve a warrant
- serve papers on
- serve someone with a notice
- deliver
general; lacks the formal legal sense unless context makes it clear
Grammar Patterns
serve + [person] + with + [document]
serve + [document] + on + [person]
Usage Note
Two patterns are interchangeable: 'serve [person] with [document]' or 'serve [document] on [person]'. Frequently passive ('was served with a writ'). Object is always an official legal paper such as a writ, summons, subpoena, or notice.
Common Mistakes
9. if a thing, plan, or quality serves someone, it helps them or works in their fav
if a thing, plan, or quality serves someone, it helps them or works in their favour — often said about luck, memory, timing, or a strategy
Eve's quick thinking served her well during the kitchen fire on Tuesday.
serve + somebody + well
If memory serves me, the bakery on the corner closes at six.
fixed phrase: if memory serves
Patience has served Joaquín better than ambition throughout his teaching career.
serve + somebody + better than
The cautious strategy served the small bookshop badly during the festival rush.
serve + somebody + badly
Luck rarely serves the unprepared, as the climbing instructor often warned us.
- serve somebody well
- serve somebody badly
- if memory serves
- serve somebody's interests
- benefit
more neutral, less idiomatic
- do somebody good
informal alternative
- fail somebody
to let someone down when they needed help
Grammar Patterns
serve + somebody + well/badly
serve + somebody's + interests/needs
Usage Note
Subject is usually an abstract quality, ability, or circumstance (memory, patience, luck, timing); object is a person. Almost always pairs with an adverb of evaluation ('well', 'badly', 'better than') — rarely stands alone.
Common Mistakes
10. to put in or complete a fixed period of office or appointment until it ends — fo
to put in or complete a fixed period of office or appointment until it ends — for example, finishing the remaining months of a presidency, an apprenticeship, or a tour of duty
Ignacio served two full terms as mayor before the new election rules forced him out.
serve + [number] terms (completing fixed appointments)
Hari served out the remaining eight months of the chairman's term after the resignation.
serve out + remainder of a fixed term
Alessia must serve another six-month tour of duty before her contract finally ends.
serve + [tour of duty] (fixed period to be completed)
Zuri is serving the final year of her two-year term as student council president.
serve + final year of [fixed term]
- serve a term
- serve out one's term
- serve a tour of duty
- serve an apprenticeship
Grammar Patterns
serve + [period/term/sentence]
serve out + [the rest of one's term]
Usage Note
Object names a fixed, time-bounded appointment (a term, a tour of duty, an apprenticeship) — the focus is finishing the period, not the loyalty service of sense 3. Often appears with 'out' ('serve out the rest of his term') or with a numeral + duration ('serve two terms', 'serve a six-month tour').
Common Mistakes
serve out
phrasal verbto finish a fixed period of duty, punishment, or office until the end — for example a prison sentence, a contract, or a term in government
Heloísa decided to serve out the last six months of her teaching contract before moving.
The mayor will serve out his term and then retire from public life.
serve up
phrasal verbto put food on plates and bring it to the table for people to eat, or, more loosely, to present something for others to receive
Apinya served up steaming bowls of noodle soup to the hungry farmworkers.
The morning radio show serves up traffic news every fifteen minutes.
to fill two different roles or jobs at the same time — a person doing two tasks at once, or a thing used for two purposes
Noa pulled double duty as the team's coach and its goalkeeper during the cup final.
The folding table serves double duty as a desk by day and a dinner spot by night.
people are dealt with in the order they arrive — those who come earliest get attention, seats, or items first
Free festival tickets are handed out first come, first served at the town hall.
if memory serves
idiomif I am remembering correctly — used to soften a claim about a past fact you are not fully sure about
If memory serves, Élise's birthday is the second Saturday of October.
used to say that something bad that happened to a person is fair, because they caused it themselves through bad behaviour
It serves Liang right for ignoring every warning the doctor gave him.
serve your turn
idiomto be useful enough for one specific job or short period — even if not perfect or permanent
This rusty kettle will serve its turn until the new one arrives on Friday.
serve two masters
idiomto try to be loyal to two different sides, ideas, or interests at the same time — usually with the suggestion that this fails
A judge who owns shares in the company is trying to serve two masters.
serve — noun
1. in tennis, badminton, volleyball and similar games, the shot one player hits tow
in tennis, badminton, volleyball and similar games, the shot one player hits toward an opponent to begin a point.
Bilal's first serve hit the net, so he had to try again.
possessive + serve for the player who hits it
Nkechi has a powerful serve that often surprises her doubles partner.
adjective + serve: powerful / fast / weak
The umpire called the serve out because the ball landed beyond the white line.
the serve as the action being judged
Paloma lost the point after two faults on her serve.
on + somebody's serve
Christopher returned the serve with a quick backhand down the line.
verb + serve: return / break / hold
- first serve
- second serve
- powerful serve
- return the serve
- break someone's serve
- hold serve
- return
the shot the opponent uses to send the ball back after a serve
Usage Note
Almost always countable and modified by a possessive (her serve, my serve) or an adjective (powerful serve, second serve). Common in sports reporting; rarely used outside racket and net sports.
Common Mistakes
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: verb/1
All five verbs describe putting food, drink, or some need in front of others, but each picks a different focus. 'Serve' is the neutral, all-purpose word — the food itself is usually the object ('she served the soup'). 'Wait on' shifts attention to attending to the diners themselves rather than the dishes ('the staff waited on us all evening'); it is mostly used in restaurants and homes with hosts. 'Dish up' and 'serve up' are informal and stress the physical act of putting food onto plates ('Dad dished up the curry'). 'Provide' is the broadest and most neutral, applied to any need from food to information, and rarely names a single dish. 'Cater' has a commercial flavour — a company cooks and delivers food for an event ('they catered the wedding'). So at a Sunday lunch, you might say Lin served the rice, dished up the curry, and waited on the older guests, while a different company catered the dessert.
Common collocations
Nouns
- serve a purpose
- serve a sentence
- serve a term
- serve breakfast
- serve customers
- serve the community
- serve the country
- serve notice
Adverbs
- serve loyally
- serve faithfully
- serve promptly
- serve well
- serve badly
Phrases
- if memory serves
- serve right
- serve time
- serve two masters
- first come, first served
- serve up
Prepositions
- serve as
- serve in
- serve on
- serve under
- serve with
Etymology
From Latin 'servire' meaning 'to be a slave' or 'to be of service to', built on 'servus' (a slave or servant). The verb travelled through Old French as 'servir' before entering Middle English in the 12th century. Over centuries the original sense of bondage softened into the modern range of meanings — bringing food to a table, working for a country or institution, being useful for a purpose, and the specialised legal and sporting uses developed later from the same core idea of doing something on behalf of another.