verb
1 give sb food or drink
ADVERB
▪ immediately
▪
Pour the sauce over the pasta and ~ immediately.
VERB + SERVE
▪ be ready to
▪
Cover and chill the salad until ready to ~.
PREPOSITION
▪ to
▪
They ~d a wonderful meal to more than 50 delegates.
▪ with
▪
The delegates were ~d with a wonderful meal.
▪
Serve the lamb with new potatoes and green beans.
PHRASES
▪ dinner is ~d
▪
‘Dinner is ~d!’ Katie announced.
▪ ~ sth chilled , ~ sth cold , ~ sth hot
▪
The quiche can be ~d hot or cold.
2 work
ADVERB
▪ faithfully , loyally , well
▪
She ~d the family faithfully for many years (= as a servant) .
▪ better
▪
Let us know how we can better ~ your needs.
▪ currently
▪
She is currently serving as special adviser to the American Ambassador.
▪ previously
VERB + SERVE
▪ continue to
PREPOSITION
▪ as
▪
I shall continue to ~ as a trustee.
▪ in
▪
She ~d in the medical corps.
▪
to ~ in the army/military/navy
▪ on
▪
I currently ~ on the Board of Directors.
▪
to ~ on the committee/jury/panel
▪ under
▪
He ~d under President Reagan in the 1980s.
PHRASES
▪ if memory ~s you , if memory ~s (you) correctly , if memory ~s you right
▪
If memory ~s me right, we arrived on June 22, which was a Tuesday.
▪ ~ in a … capacity , ~ in this/that capacity
▪
She has ~d in an advisory capacity for a number of groups.
▪ ~ on active duty ( esp. AmE )
▪
He ~d on active duty in the US Marine Corps.
▪ ~ with distinction
▪
He ~d with distinction in the First World War.
3 be useful
ADVERB
▪ merely , only , simply
▪
This only ~d to complicate the situation further.
▪ mainly , mostly , primarily
▪
The Declaration ~d primarily as a propaganda piece.
▪ well
▪
This strategy has always ~d him well.
PREPOSITION
▪ as
▪
The texts ultimately ~ as springboards for the artists' imagination.
Serve is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ cafe , ↑ clinic , ↑ dining room , ↑ felon , ↑ inmate , ↑ landlord , ↑ lift , ↑ main , ↑ officer , ↑ pastor , ↑ recipe , ↑ restaurant , ↑ servant , ↑ soldier , ↑ staff , ↑ troops , ↑ veteran , ↑ waiter, waitress
Serve is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ ace , ↑ alcohol , ↑ beer , ↑ buffet , ↑ cause , ↑ church , ↑ client , ↑ clientele , ↑ cocktail , ↑ congregation , ↑ country , ↑ crown , ↑ cuisine , ↑ customer , ↑ dessert , ↑ detention , ↑ dish , ↑ drink , ↑ end , ↑ fare , ↑ fault , ↑ food , ↑ function , ↑ god , ↑ guest , ↑ interest , ↑ justice , ↑ king , ↑ liquor , ↑ lord , ↑ lunch , ↑ mankind , ↑ market , ↑ master , ↑ menu , ↑ nation , ↑ need , ↑ niche , ↑ notice , ↑ profession , ↑ public , ↑ purpose , ↑ refreshment , ↑ role , ↑ seafood , ↑ sentence , ↑ snack , ↑ soup , ↑ stint , ↑ summons , ↑ suspension , ↑ tea , ↑ term , ↑ turkey , ↑ warrant , ↑ wine , ↑ writ