serve🔊

(sports) An act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play in various games.

(Australia) A portion of food or drink, a serving.

(AAVE) An impressive presentation (especially of a person's appearance).

(personal) {{non-gloss|To provide a service (or, by extension, a product, especially food or drink).}}

To be a formal servant for (a god or deity); to worship in an official capacity.

To be a servant for; to work for, to be employed by.

To wait upon (someone) at table; to set food and drink in front of, to help (someone) to food, meals etc.

(factive) To render service by being a servant, worker, employee, or officeholder; to hold those roles and perform their duties.

To set down (food or drink) on the table to be eaten; to bring (food, drink) to a person.

(archaic) To treat (someone) in a given manner.

(archaic) To be suitor to; to be the lover of.

{{non-gloss|To be effective.}}

To be useful to; to meet the needs of.

To have a given use or purpose; to function (for) something or ''to do'' something.

To usefully take the place (as), (instead) ''of'' something else.

(law) To deliver a document in such a way that the recipient can be legally considered to be informed of it.

To officially deliver (a legal notice, summons etc.).

To make legal service upon (a person named in a writ, summons, etc.)

(sports) To lead off with the first delivery over the net in tennis, volleyball, ping pong, badminton etc.

To copulate with (of male animals); to cover.

To be in military service.

(military) To work, to operate (a weapon).

To work through (a given period of time in prison, a sentence).

(nautical) To wind spun yarn etc. tightly around (a rope or cable, etc.) so as to protect it from chafing or from the weather.

To perform (a public obligation).

(drugs) To provide crack cocaine (to), usually by selling, dealing, or distributing.

(gay slang) (AAVE) To present an attractive personal appearance.

To present an attractive personal appearance.

To attractively display (something, especially a body part) as part of one's personal appearance.

To evoke (something, especially a person) with one's personal appearance.