What does “serve” mean?
- 1
verbto give food or drink to someone, especially in a restaurant
Breakfast is served from 7 to 10.
- 2
verbto work for or help a person, group, or country
He served in the army for six years.
- 3
verbto be useful for a particular purpose
This old box serves as a table.
Serve at a glance
- Part of speech
- verb
- CEFR level
- A2 (elementary)
- Pronunciation
- /sɝv/ · SURV
How to use “serve” correctly
“Serve as” means “be used as”: “The room serves as an office.”
Common phrases with “serve”
- serve food
- serve customers
- serve as
- serve in the army
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Word family
- service
- server
- servant
“serve” is on these word lists
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