Word.ws English Dictionary

serving someone right

serving someone right is the present participle and gerund of serve someone right.

Meaning of serve someone right

Verb

serve someone right (third-person singular simple present serves someone right, present participle serving someone right, simple past and past participle served someone right)

  1. (idiomatic) Of an unpleasant event, to happen to someone who is thought to deserve it.
    • What, now he wishes he hadn't voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party? Serves him right!
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see serve, right.
    • If my memory serves me right, we had a similar discussion a few months ago.

Questions about serving someone right

What is serving someone right the present participle and gerund of?
Serving someone right is the present participle and gerund of serve someone right.

Words near serving someone right in the dictionary

  1. serving one's time
  2. serving out
  3. serving pantries
  4. serving pantry
  5. serving someone a trick
  6. serving someone right
  7. serving someone with the same sauce
  8. serving spoon
  9. serving spoonful
  10. serving spoonfuls
  11. serving spoons

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: serving someone right (page history and authors); serve someone right (page history and authors). 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.

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