SERVE
What does "SERVE" mean?
To perform duties or work for someone, or to provide food, help, or a service.
Meanings
- To work for or be of use to a person, cause, or organization. She served the town as mayor for twelve years.
- To present or distribute food and drink. Dinner is served at eight.
- To be suitable or sufficient for a purpose. A flat stone served as a table.
- To spend a period in office, prison, or the military. He served three years in the navy.
- In tennis and similar games, the stroke that starts play. Her serve clocked over a hundred miles per hour.
Did you know?
- Australian Sam Groth blasted the fastest recorded tennis serve at 263.4 km/h in 2012 - faster than the top speed of many highway-legal cars.
Word origin
From Latin 'servire' (to be a servant, to serve), from 'servus' (slave), entering English via Old French 'servir'.
Remember it
SERVE shares its root with 'servant' and 'service' - all from Latin 'servire', to wait on someone.
A little poem
The waiter, the soldier, the player at the line-
all offer up something, then wait for a sign.
couplet
Wordplay
- The tennis player and the waiter argued over who served better - one delivered an ace, the other delivered the appetizers.
What it teaches
To serve is to put something forward and let it leave your hands; usefulness begins where ownership ends.
Quick facts
What does SERVE mean?
To perform duties or work for someone, or to provide food, help, or a service.
Is SERVE a valid word?
Yes — SERVE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SERVE?
SERVE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SERVE come from?
From Latin 'servire' (to be a servant, to serve), from 'servus' (slave), entering English via Old French 'servir'.
What can SERVE teach us?
To serve is to put something forward and let it leave your hands; usefulness begins where ownership ends.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.