serve 
7. To contribute or conduce to ; promote. 
They make Christ and Ins Gospell onelie serve Ciuill 
pollicie. Ascham, The Scholemaster, p. 82. 
Sir Modred . . . sought 
To make disruption in the Table Bound 
Of Arthur, and to splinter it into feuds, 
Serving his traitorous end. Tennyson, Guinevere. 
Evil can but serve the right, 
Over all shall love endure. 
n'liUliar, Calef in Boston. 
8. To aid by good offices ; minister to the wants 
or well-being of. 
For David, after he had served his own generation by the 
will of God, fell on sleep. Acts xiii. 36. 
He would lose his life to serve his country, but would 
not do a base thing to save it 
Sumrier, True Grandeur of Nations. 
Not less, tliu' dogs of Faction bay, 
Would serve his kind in deed and word. 
Tennyson, Love thou thy Land. 
0. To be of use to instead of something else : 
with for: as, a sofa may serve one for a bed. 
The cry of Talbot serves me for a sword. 
Sltak., 1 Hen. VI., II. 1. 78. 
Not far from the Castle is an old unflnish'd Palace of 
Faccardine's, serving however the Bassa/or his Seraglio. 
Maundrell, Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 45. 
10. To regulate one's conduct in accordance 
with the spirit, fashion, or demands of; com- 
ply with. 
Men who think that herein we serve the tune, and speak 
in favour of the present state, because thereby we either 
hold or seek preferment. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, I. 1. 1. 
The Man who spoke, 
Who never sold the truth to serve the hour, 
Nor palter'd with Eternal God for power. 
Tennyson, Death of Wellington. 
11. To behave toward; treat; requite: as. he 
served me very shabbily. 
If Pisanio 
Have . . . given his mistress that confection 
Which I gave him for cordial, she is served 
As I would serve a rat, Shak., Cymbeline, v. 5. 247. 
12. To suffice; satisfy; content. 
Less than a pound shall serve me for carrying your let- 
ter. Shalt., 1. G. of V., 1. 1. 111. 
Nothing would serve them then but riding. 
Sir It. L' Estrange. 
The 21st day we sent out our Moskito Strikers for Tur- 
tle, who brought aboard enough to serve both Ships Com- 
panies. Dampier, Voyages, I. 146. 
A polite country squire shall make you as many bows in 
half an hour as would serve a courtier for a week. 
Addison, Spectator, No. 119. 
Never let me hear you utter any thing like a sentiment ; 
I have had enough of them to scree me the rest of my life. 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, v. 2. 
13. To be of use or service to; answer the re- 
quirements of ; avail. 
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well, 
When our deep plots do pall. 
Shot., Hamlet, v. 2. 8. 
Sir, you have now at length this question for the time, 
and, as my memory would best serve me in such a copious 
and vast theme, fully handl'd. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., ii. 
14t. To be a professed lover of; be a suitor to. 
Syn I have trouthe hire bight 
I wol nat ben untrewe for no wight, 
But as hire man I wol ay ty ve and sterve, 
And nevere noon other creature serve . 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 448. 
15. To handle; manipulate; work; manage: 
as, the guns were well served. 
But the garrison of Sumter, being destitute of the proper 
accessories, could only serve a small number of guns, and 
was already suffering from want of provisions. 
Comte de Paris, Civil War in America (trans. X I. 138. 
16. Naut., to bind or wind tightly with small 
cord, generally spun-yarn or marline : as, to 
serve a backstay. 17. In law, to deliver or 
send to ; present to in due form ; communicate 
by delivery or by reading, according to differ- 
ent methods prescribed by different laws : often 
with on or upon before the person : as, to serrc 
a notice upon a tenant. 
They required that no bookseller should be allowed to 
unpack a box of books without notice and a catalogue 
served upon a judge. Brougham. 
18. To supply; furnish: usually said of regu- 
lar and continuous supply: as, a newsman 
serves families with papers; a reservoir serves 
a town with water. 
The watir cometh all by condite, in grett plente, ffrom 
Ebrom and Bedelem, which condites serve all the Citee 
in every place. Torkingtan, Diarie of Eng. Travell, p. 38. 
And, although the sea be so deep between it [the tower] 
and the shore that a ship may sail through, yet is it served 
with fresh water. Sandys, Travailes, p. 30. 
19. To earn. Hallitcell. [Prov. Eng.] 20. 
To copulate with; cover: used of male ani- 
mals, as stallions, jacks, or bulls, kept for breed- 
ing purposes at a price. 21. To deliver, as a 
5516 
ball, in the manner of the first player in tennis 
or lawn-tennis, or the pitcher iu base-ball: as, 
he nerved a swift ball. 22t. To deserve. 
Haf I prys wonnen 't 
Haue I thryuandely thonk [thanks] thurj my craft served > 
Sir Gaieayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.X 1. 1380. 
I gyfe the grace and graunt, thof e thou hafe grefe sereede.' 
M,,rl, Artlnm (E. E. T. H.), 1. iTOl. 
To serve a cable (naut.). See cable. To serve a 
hawk, in falconry, to drive out a quarry which has taken 
refuge or concealed itself. To serve an apprentice- 
ship, to perform the service or fulfil the legal condi- 
tions of an apprentice. To serve an attachment or 
writ of attachment, in law, to levy such a writ on 
the person or goods by seizure. To serve an execu- 
tion, to levy an execution on the person, poods, or lands 
by seizure. To serve an office, to discharge the duties 
incident to an office. To serve a person heir to a 
property, in Scots law, to take the necessary legal steps 
for putting him in possession. See service of an heir, under 
service). To serve a process or writ, to communicate 
a process or writ to the person to whom it is directed, as 
by delivering or reading it to him, or by leaving it at his 
place of residence or business, as the law may direct. 
The person is said to be served with the process or writ. 
To serve a sentence, to undergo the punishment pre- 
scribed by a judicial sentence : as, to serve a sentence of 
eighteen months' hard labor. To serve a turn, one's 
turn, or the turn. See rum. To serve one a trick, 
to play a trick upon one. 
Well, if I be served such another trick, I'll have my brains 
ta'enout. Shak., M. W. of W., lii. 6. 0. 
To serve one out, to punish or take revenge on one : 
make an example of one. 
The Right Honourable Gentleman had boasted he had 
served his country for twenty years. Served his country ' 
He should have said served her out .' 
Bulicer, My Novel, xli. 25. 
To serve one right, to treat one as he deserves : often 
used interjectionally. 
Webb dated all his Grace's misfortunes from Wyuen- 
dall, and vowed that Fate served the traitor riyht. 
Thackeray, Henry Esmond, iii. 5. 
Workhouse funeral serve him right! 
Didtent, Pickwick, xlii. 
To serve one's self Of, to avail one's self of ; use. [A 
Gallicism.] 
If they elevate themselves, it is only to fall from a higher 
place, because they serve themselves of other men's wings, 
neither understanding their use nor their virtue. 
Dryden, Obs. on Duf resnoy's Art of Painting. 
To serve one's time, to. complete one's apprenticeship. 
At first there was a very general desire to reestablish 
the apprentice system of the middle ages. The tradi- 
tions of the past were still strong. The lad must serve 
his time that is, be legally bound to remain with his 
master for a term of four or five years. 
The Centura, XXXVII. 402. 
To serve one (with) the same sauce. See sauce. To 
serve out, to deal out or distribute in portions: as, to 
serve out ammunition to soldiers ; to serve out grog to sail- 
ors. To serve the purpose Of, to take the place of in 
use ; do the work of ; serve for : as, a bent pin served the 
purpose of a flsh-hook. To serve the vent, in gun., to 
stop the vent of a gun while it is being sponged. To 
serve time, to undergo a term of imprisonment. 
The under-world, with the police and detective forces 
practically in its interest, holds in rigorous bondage ev- 
ery unfortunate or miscreant who has once served time. 
Science, VIII. 287. 
= 8yn. 1. To labor for, attend, aid, assist, help. 7. To 
ndvance, forward, benefit. 
II. intrans. 1. To be or act as a servant or 
attendant ; be employed in services or minis- 
trations for another : 'formerly with to. 
Blessed Angels he sends to and fro, 
To serve to wicked man. Spenser, F. Q., II. viii. 1. 
Serve by indenture to the common hangman. 
Shak., Pericles, iv. 6. 187. 
They also serve who only stand and wait. 
Mtttan, Sonnet on his Blindness. 
When a man can say I serve to the whole extent of 
my being I apply my faculty to the service of mankind in 
my especial place he therein sees and shows a reason 
for his being in the world, and is not a moth or incum- 
brance in it. Emerson, Fortune of the Republic. 
Specifically (a) To perform domestic offices for another ; 
wait upon one as a servant. 
For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he 
that servethf . . . but I am among you as he that serveth. 
Luke xxii. 27. 
And now, Mrs. Cook, I proceed to give you my instruc- 
tions, . . . whether you serve in town or country. 
Swift, Advice to Servants (Cook). 
(ft) To discharge the duties of an office or employment ; 
do duty in any capacity under authority, especially as a 
soldier or seaman. 
Under what captain serve you ? Shak., Hen. V., iv. 1. 95. 
Leontius, you and I have serv'd together, 
And run through many a fortune with our swords. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, iii. 7. 
His talk is all of war and pleasure, and he longs to serve 
in the next campaign. Thackeray, Henry Esmond, ii. 6. 
"Hasheseriwd in the army?" "Yes no not, strictly 
speaking, served; but he has been . . . trained to arms." 
Scott, Rob Roy, x. 
Is na' this Hester, as servei in Foster's shop? 
Mrs. Gaskett, Sylvia s Lovers, vii. 
Likewise had he served a year 
On board a merchantman, and made himself 
Full sailor. Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
server 
(c) To be in subjection or servitude. 
And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve 
with rigour ; and they made their lives bitter with hard 
bondage. Ex. 1. 13. 
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. 
Miltun, f.L.,1. 263. 
(<J) Eccles. , to act as server at the celebration of the en- 
charist. See server, 1 (a). 
" Canstow seruen," he seide, '' other syngen in a churche? " 
Hers Plowman (C), vi. 12. 
2. To answer the purpose ; accomplish the end ; 
avail ; be sufficient ; suffice : often followed by 
a present infinitive of purpose. 
Rom. Courage, man ; the hurt cannot be much. 
Mer. No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a 
church-door ; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. 
Shak., R. and J., iii. 1. 101. 
For they say The Riches of the Church are to serve as 
Anchors in Time of a Storm. Hmeell, Letters, ii. 61. 
The Indians make use of no more Land than serves to 
maintain their Families in Maiz and to pay their taxes. 
Dampier, Voyages, II. ii. 119. 
Learning itself, received into a mind 
By nature weak, or viciously inclin'd, 
Serves but to lead philosophers astray. 
Cowper, Progress of Error, 1. 433. 
Short greeting serves in time of strife! 
Scott, Marmion, vi. 24. 
3. To suit; be convenient; be favorable: said 
especially of a favoring wind or current. 
There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune: . . . 
And we must take the current when it serves. 
Shak., 1. C., iv. 3. 223. 
His Ships were readie, but the wind sen'd not for many 
days. Hilton, Hist. Eng., vf. 
The tide serving at half-past two, we got clear of the 
docks at that hour. W. C. Russell, Sailor's Sweetheart, ii. 
The sportsman, narrating his feats when opportunity 
serves, keeps such spoils of the chase as he conveniently 
can. H. Spencer, Prin. of Sociol., 349. 
4t. To be a professed lover or suitor. 
Gode godely [Cryseyde], to whom serve I and laboure 
As I best can. Chaucer, Troilus, i. 458. 
5. To deliver or bat the ball, as done by the 
player who leads off in tennis or lawn-tennis. 
serve 1 (serv), M. [< serve 1 , v.} In tennis or 
lawn-tennis : (a) The act of the first player in 
striking the ball, or the style in which the ball 
is then delivered: as, a good serre. (6) The 
right of hitting or delivering the ball first: as, 
it is my nerve. 
He lost his serve, and the next game as well, and before 
five minutes had passed he was two games to the bad in 
the last set. St. Nicholas, XVII. 920. 
serve' 2 t (serv), . K ME. serve: appar. < OF. 
"soroe, F. sorbc = Sp. sorba, serba = Pg. sorva 
= It. sorba, t., service-berry, sorbo, m., service- 
tree, < L. sorbtts, t., the service-tree, sorbum, 
neut., its fruit: see sort, and cf. service^.] 1. 
The service-tree. 
He may ont graffe atte Man-lie hi thorn and serve. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 98. 
2. The fruit of the service-tree. 
Crato . . . utterly forbids all maner of fruits, as peares. 
apples, plumms, cherries, strawberries, nuts, medlers, 
serves, &c. Burton, Anat of Mel., p. 69. 
serveet, . [ME., < OF. *servie, serve, service, 
< servir, serve: see serve 1 .'] Service. 
And make goure selfe sogettys to be 
To hem that owyn sow servee. 
MS. Harl. 1701, f. 8. (Uattiu-eU.) 
server (ser'ver), n. [< ME. server; < serve 1 + 
-er 1 .] 1. One who serves. 
So are ye image-servers that is, idolaters. 
Tyndale, Ans. to Sir T. More, etc. (Parker Soc., 1850), p. 52. 
Specifically (a) In the Roman Catholic and Anglican 
churches, an attendant on the priest at a low celebration 
of the eucharist, who helps the priest to vest and unvest, 
arranges the service-book, lights and extinguishes the al- 
tar-lights, places the elements and cruets on the credence 
and brings them to the priest at the offertory, brings the 
Eriest the basin and towel and pours the water at the 
ivabo, pours out the ablutions of wine and water, and 
ministers in other ways. The server is usually a boy or 
other layman, and represents, as far as a layman can, the 
priest's assistants and the choir at a high celebration, (b) 
One who serves up a meal, or sets the dishes on table. 
Byfore the cours tho stuarde comes then, 
The seruer hit next of alle kyn men 
Mays way. Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 316. 
The medieval baron removed from one to another of his 
castles with a train of servants and baggage, his chaplains 
and accountants, steward and carvers, servers, cupbearers, 
clerks, squires, yeomen, grooms and pages, chamberlain, 
treasurer, and even chancellor. 
Stubbs, Const. Hist., g 473. 
(c) In the game of tennis or of lawn-tennis, the player who 
serves or strikes the ball first See laim-tennis. 
The game begins by serving the ball upon the left wall 
of the Hazard Court (which the server faces). 
Tribune Book of Sports, p. 105. 
2. That which serves or is used in serving. 
Specifically (a) A salver or small tray. (6) A utensil for 
