[serve] vb served ; serv.ing [ME, fr. MF servir, fr. OF, fr. L servire to be a slave, serve, fr. servus slave, servant] vi (13c) 1 a: to be a servant b: to do military or naval service
2: to assist a celebrant as server at mass 3 a: to be of use "in a day when few people could write, seals served as signatures --Elizabeth W. King" b: to be favorable, opportune, or convenient c: to be worthy of reliance or trust "if memory ~s" d: to hold an office: discharge a duty or function "~ on a jury"
4: to prove adequate or satisfactory: suffice
5: to help persons to food: as a: to wait at table b: to set out portions of food or drink
6: to wait on customers 7: to put the ball or shuttlecock in play in various games (as tennis, volleyball, or badminton) ~ vt 1 a: to be a servant to: attend b: to give the service and respect due to (a superior) c: to comply with the commands or demands of: gratify d: to give military or naval service to e: to perform the duties of (an office or post)
2: to act as server at (mass) 3 archaic: to pay a lover's or suitor's court to (a lady) "that gentle lady, whom I love and ~ --Edmund Spenser"
4. a: to work through (a term of service) "served his time as a mate" b: to put in (a term of imprisonment)
5. a: to wait on at table b: to bring (food) to a diner c: present, provide--usu. used with up "the novel served up many laughs"
6. a: to furnish or supply with something needed or desired b: to wait on (a customer) in a store c: to furnish professional service to
7. a: to answer the needs of: avail b: to be enough for: suffice c: to contribute or conduce to: promote 8: to treat or act toward in a specified way: requite "he served me ill"
9. a: to bring to notice, deliver, or execute as required by law b: to make legal service upon (a person named in a process)
10. of a male animal: to copulate with 11: to wind yarn or wire tightly around (a rope or stay) for protection 12: to provide services that benefit or help 13: to put (the ball or shuttlecock) in play (as in tennis or badminton) -- serve one right : to be deserved
[2]serve n (1688): the act or action of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play in various games (as volleyball, badminton, or tennis); also: a turn to serve