Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use serve in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Serve means to be a formal servant for (a god or deity); to worship in an official capacity. Example: “Pilsner is one of the most commonly served beers in Europe.”

Examples of serve by meaning

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

  • That was the way Chollacombe described as knaggy an old gager as ever Charles had had the ill-fortune to serve.1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax

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

  • That night Annie served him grilled halibut and English peas, plus tomatoes, of course, and a salad.2007, Larry McMurty, When the Light Goes

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

  • About twenty minutes after waiters served the soup, a guest got up and left.2009, Dominic A Pacyga, Chicago: A Biography, page 195

verbTo treat (someone) in a given manner.

  • I mock them all who have served me ill of late and chiefly this cheat of Judah, whose temple we have plundered and whose golden vessels are my wash-pots.1924, H. Rider Haggard, Belshazzar

verbTo be useful to; to meet the needs of.

  • Will somebody please explain to these people that the values of cultural diversity are not served by an ad placing a menorah under a fucking Christmas tree!1989 December 24, Read Weaver, “Xmas And The Rest Of Us”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 24, page 4
  • So, while the sycophantic liberal media calls any and all opposition to Obama racist, they give Obama carte blanche to exploit his race whenever it serves his purpose.2010 October 12, Lloyd Marcus, “So much for the 'post-racial' president”, in The Guardian

verbTo have a given use or purpose; to function for something or to do something.

  • The bust also served to remind the public that the Mafia is not harmless.2011 January 27, “Borgata bust”, in The Economist

verbTo usefully take the place as, instead of something else.

  • Maybe the volcanic eruption will serve as a wake-up call to such companies that they need to modernise their risk management.2010 April 20, “Not up in the air”, in The Economist

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

  • a document served on the tenant
  • On the morning of February 28, 1993, ATF agents gathered at a staging area near Waco and prepared to serve a search warrant on the Branch Davidians' residence.2008 April, Pamela Colloff, “The Fire That Time”, in Texas Monthly, Austin: Emmis Publishing, page 158
  • Prince Andrew’s team tried to hire “internet trolls to hassle” his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, while he hid behind the “well-guarded gates” of Balmoral Castle to avoid being served court papers, according to allegations in her posthumous memoir.2025 October 20, Caroline Davies, “Prince Andrew tried to hire ‘internet trolls’ to hassle Virginia Giuffre, book claims”, in The Guardian...

More sentences with serve

  • Pilsner is one of the most commonly served beers in Europe.From the entry beer
  • After years of debate over the best wine to serve at Thanksgiving, no real consensus has emerged.From the entry consensus
  • The copy machine is connected to the network so it can now serve as a printer.From the entry network
  • She will be the first lady to serve as chair of the committee.From the entry chair
  • He was broke and rendered unfit to serve His Majesty at sea.From the entry broke
  • Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.From the entry lay
  • The floor of a cave served the refugees as a home.From the entry floor
  • Without context, I can't tell if dish refers to a plate, or to the food served thereon.From the entry context
  • That Italian restaurant serves some of the best food I've ever had in my life.From the entry restaurant
  • The diners were disappointed with the plain, insipid soup they were served.From the entry insipid
  • Latin used to be the European interlanguage. Currently English widely serves this purpose.From the entry interlanguage
  • The exceptionally small gate-leg table served the purpose of a tea table admirably.From the entry purpose
  • She served four terms as representative of her local at the national union convention.From the entry representative
  • The player couldn’t return the serve because it was so fast.From the entry return
  • A mixture of horseradish and mustard often serves as a surrogate for wasabi.From the entry surrogate
  • You could hear the students mutter as they were served sodden spaghetti, yet again, in the cafeteria.From the entry mutter
  • A huge dish of food was served, and we had at it.From the entry have at
  • This diner serves ketchup in red bottles, and mustard in yellow ones.From the entry ketchup
  • The recent deaths should serve as a wake-up call to others at risk.From the entry wake-up call
  • The student council had a poll to see what people want served in the cafeteria.From the entry poll
  • Public relations firms often serve as the interface between a company and the press.From the entry interface
  • The bridesmaid and best man at a wedding typically serve as the witnesses.From the entry witness
  • During the Roman principate, the senate largely served as a rubber stamp for the emperor.From the entry rubber stamp
  • She has served me loyally, abiding by my rule for almost my entire life.From the entry abide by
  • At the king's coronation feast, several subtleties were served between main courses.From the entry subtlety
  • The children were all wearing anticipatory grins as the cake was served.From the entry anticipatory
  • The novel's protagonist serves as a mouthpiece for the author's political views.From the entry mouthpiece
  • The sommelier recommended the perfect wine, opened the bottle with panache, and served it into glasses.From the entry sommelier
  • Jars of pickled eggs are seen in British pubs, where they are served as bar snacks.From the entry pickled egg

Meaning of serve

  1. verb To be a formal servant for (a god or deity); to worship in an official capacity.
  2. verb To be a servant for; to work for, to be employed by.
  3. verb To wait upon (someone) at table; to set food and drink in front of, to help (someone) to food, meals etc.

Full definition of serve

Questions about serve in a sentence

How do you use serve in a sentence?
Serve is used as a verb and noun. For example: “Pilsner is one of the most commonly served beers in Europe.”
What is a short sentence with serve?
“a document served on the tenant”
What does serve mean?
Serve means to be a formal servant for (a god or deity); to worship in an official capacity.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: serve (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use serve in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/serve. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.