də̇zərv, dēˈ-, -zə̄v, -zəiv verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English deserven, from Old French deservir, from Latin deservire to serve zealously, from de- + servire to serve — more at serve
transitive verb
1.
a. : to come to be rightfully worthy of, to be fairly entitled to, or to be able to claim rightfully by virtue of actions done or qualities displayed
we have the poetry we deserve , just as we have the painting we deserve — Herbert Read
rebels deserve no consideration — Kenneth Roberts
a people indifferent to their civil liberties do not deserve to keep them — W.O.Douglas
also : to be so circumstanced as to undergo as one's just due : have due as requital
a drunken driver deserves to have his driving license suspended
he deserves to lose because of his unsportsmanlike tactics
b. : to be rightfully qualified (as by excellence, utility, wrongness, or other special character) to have or receive : qualify for on the basis of right or justice
a laboratory that hardly deserved the name
the question deserves dispassionate consideration — Vera M. Dean
what crimes deserve the death penalty?
that his country's new society deserved all his energies — Jay Leyda
acute and liberating observations which deserve to be widely disseminated — M.R.Cohen
2. obsolete : to be or prove of service to : benefit
3. : to win by reason of worthy performance or earn by reason of untoward performance
they cannot command prosperity or continuing employment, but they are certainly doing their best to deserve them — Sam Pollock
I do not know how he had deserved our disrespect — Mary Austin
4. obsolete : to give in return
intransitive verb
1. : to be worthy, fit, suitable for some reward or requital : have acted in a worthy way
that the Tudor translators have become recognized as they deserve — T.S.Eliot
as one who had deserved well of his country — G.L.Dickinson
2. obsolete : to be of service
Synonyms:
earn , merit , rate : deserve may suggest one's being rightfully entitled to reward for actions done or qualities exhibited in particular situations calling for special notice or evaluation
if he [Dr. Johnson] inserts the poems of some who can hardly be said to deserve such an honor — William Cowper
liberty is easier to win than to deserve, and if it is treated as either a license or a vacuum, the police will come or the walls will fall in — Curtis Bok
a second point deserves renewed emphasis — Zechariah Chafee
earn may suggest a due reward or recompense according to a systematic or regulated plan of evaluation
since he has not missed any hours of work I suppose that he has earned his salary, but from the caliber of his work I do not think that he deserves it
advanced work … by men already graduates of theological schools earns the degree of Master or Doctor of Theology — Official Register of Harvard University
More certainly than the others in this set earn suggests previous sustained expenditure of energy, effort, and time
we had earned that right … no group of men can grant other men rights of any kind; they are achieved — H.D.Skidmore
merit may be used in reference to lasting traits, rather than sustained action, more readily than earn
the idle politicos of the country do not merit our trust, but her zealous partisans have earned it
merit highly stresses the fact of worthiness fit for reward or consideration but implies less about the fact of being rewarded than the others of this group
a boost which in a sense it does merit — T.S.Eliot
if hope's familiar whispers merit faith — William Wordsworth
rate in this sense may stress the idea of being fit or suited for some special reward or consideration in addition to what is officially earned and paid or conferred through rank, status, or connection
important statesmen in the United Sates have usually rated eulogistic titles — E.C.Smith
not that I rated the governor's suite on my own — Bennett Cerf