serial
UK/ˈsɪə.ɹɪ.əl/US/ˈsɪɹ.i.əl/
serial adjective: having to do with or arranged in a series.
Adjective
serial (not comparable)
- Having to do with or arranged in a series.
- These singular ribs have a very different direction from that of the serial teeth of the hinge, and cannot be taken for teeth.1823, Royal Institution of Great Britain (contributor), The Quarterly Journal - Volume 14, page 318
- Synonyms:
- sequential
- Who performs a specified action or course of action repeatedly or regularly.
- The serial killer had a string of victims across seven states.
- He was a serial entrepreneur, always coming up with a new way to make cash.
- Synonyms:
- career
- Published or produced in installments.
- Of or relating to a grammatical aspect relating to an action that is habitual and ongoing.
Noun
serial (plural serials)
- A literary or dramatic work, such as a radio or television programme, published in installments, often numbered and without a specified end.
- A publication issued in successive parts, often numbered and with no predetermined end.
- A serial number, esp. one required to activate software.
- Go to these sites for serials, cracks and keygens.
- A unit of police officers equipped with shields to tackle a riot.
- The practice, especially among members of shield serials, of 'whooping like cowboys and indians' and beating of truncheons on riot shields must cease as this tends to frighten and intimidate rioters.1992, James Donald, Ali Rattansi, Race, Culture and Difference, page 66
- The serials worked in pairs, one with long shields and one with short shields.2013, Tony Moore, Policing Notting Hill: Fifty Years of Turbulence, page 324
Verb
serial (third-person singular simple present serials, present participle (US) serialing or (UK) serialling, simple past and past participle (US) serialed or (UK) serialled)
- to assign a serial number to (especially of aircraft)
serial meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
serial in Hindi
- Having to do with or arranged in a series
- क्रमिक kramik
- literal work
- सीरियल sīriyal
serial in Tamil
- literal work
- தொடர் toṭar
- publication
- தொடர் toṭar
serial in Marathi
- सिरियल
serial in Urdu
- سیریل, سیریلنگ
More languagesFewer languages
- serial in Bengali
- ক্রমাগত kromagoto
- serial in Telugu
- సీరియల్
- serial in Malayalam
- സീരിയൽ
- serial in Kannada
- ವರಸೆಯ, ಧಾರಾವಾಹಿ
- serial in Punjabi
- ਸੀਰੀਅਲ
- serial in Gujarati
- સીરીયલ, સિરિયલ
- serial in Odia
- ସିରିଆଲ୍, ସିରିଏଲ
- serial in Nepali
- सिरियल, शृङ्खलात्मक
- serial in Indonesian
- berantai, cerbung, serial
- serial in Vietnamese
- mã kích hoạt
Examples of serial in a sentence
- He poled off the serial of the Gulfstream to confirm its identity.
- A disturbing film that tries to explore the mind of a serial killer.
- The serial killer played the victim card as he blamed others for his actions.
Synonyms of serial
Forms of serial
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | serials |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | serials |
| present participle US | serialing |
| present participle UK | serialling |
| past participle US | serialed |
| past US | serialed |
| past participle UK | serialled |
| past UK | serialled |
Origin of serial
Formed as series + -al, on model of Latin seriālis, from seriēs + -ālis. Cognate to Italian seriale. First use appears c. 1823. See cite below.
Words formed from serial
- biserial
- multiserial
- pauciserial
- polyserial
- postserial
- quadriserial
- quinqueserial
- rectiserial
- serial art
- serial bond
- serial comma
- serial file
- serial interval
- serialise
- serialism
- serialist
- serialistic
- seriality
- serialize
- serial key
- serial killer
- serially
- serial monogamist
- serial monogamy
- serial music
- serial number
- serial pest
- serial polygamy
- serial port
- serial position effect
- serial rapist
- serial time-encoded amplified microscopy
- subserial
- triserial
- uniserial
- nonserial
- daytime serial
- miniserial
- teleserial
Phrases with serial
- Serial ATA
- serial keys
- serial kill
- serial bonds
- serial files
- serial kills
- serial pests
- serial ports
- serial commas
- serial killed
- serial killers
- serial killing
15 more phrasesFewer phrases
- serial numbers
- serial rapists
- serial intervals
- serial killer van
- serial polygamies
- serial killer vans
- serial monogamists
- Universal Serial Bus
- serial killer glasses
- serial position effects
- file off the serial numbers
- filed off the serial numbers
- files off the serial numbers
- filing off the serial numbers
- Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
Questions about serial
- What does serial mean?
- Serial means having to do with or arranged in a series.
- What is serial in Hindi?
- Serial in Hindi is क्रमिक (kramik), सीरियल (sīriyal). See Serial meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is serial?
- Serial can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce serial?
- Serial is pronounced /ˈsɪə.ɹɪ.əl/ (UK).
Words near serial in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: serial (page history and authors); serial (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); serial (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ক্রমাগত (Bengali) (page history and authors); serial (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); serial (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); serial (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); serial (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); serial (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); serial (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); serial (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-serial.ogg.
Cite this entry: “serial.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/serial. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.