(sports) a stroke that puts the ball in play; "his powerful serves won the game"
put the ball into play; "It was Agassi's turn to serve"
do duty or hold offices; serve in a specific function; "He served as head of the department for three years"; "She served in Congress for two terms"
provide (usually but not necessarily food); "We serve meals for the homeless"; "She dished out the soup at 8 P.M."; "The entertainers served up a lively show"
help to some food; help with food or drink; "I served him three times, and after that he helped himself"
mate with; "male animals serve the females for breeding purposes"
deliver a warrant or summons to someone; "He was processed by the sheriff"
do military service; "She served in Vietnam"; "My sons never served, because they are short-sighted"
work for or be a servant to; "May I serve you?"; "She attends the old lady in the wheelchair"; "Can you wait on our table, please?"; "Is a salesperson assisting you?"; "The minister served the King for many years"
devote (part of) one's life or efforts to, as of countries, institutions, or ideas; "She served the art of music"; "He served the church"; "serve the country"
contribute or conduce to; "The scandal served to increase his popularity"
promote, benefit, or be useful or beneficial to; "Art serves commerce"; "Their interests are served"; "The lake serves recreation"; "The President's wisdom has served the country well"
serve a purpose, role, or function; "The tree stump serves as a table"; "The female students served as a control group"; "This table would serve very well"; "His freedom served him well"; "The table functions as a desk"
spend time in prison or in a labor camp; "He did six years for embezzlement"
totally and definitely; without question; "we are absolutely opposed to the idea"; "he forced himself to lie absolutely still"; "iron is absolutely necessary"
completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers; "an absolutely magnificent painting"; "a perfectly idiotic idea"; "you're perfectly right"; "utterly miserable"; "you can be dead sure of my innocence"; "was dead tired"; "dead right"
in some unspecified way or manner; or by some unspecified means; "they managed somehow"; "he expected somehow to discover a woman who would love him"; "he tried to make is someway acceptable"
for some unspecified reason; "It doesn't seem fair somehow"; "he had me dead to rights but somehow I got away with it"; "for some reason they didn't seem to match"
an enlisted man of the lowest rank; "our prisoner was just a private and knew nothing of value"
concerning things deeply private and personal; "private correspondence"; "private family matters"
confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy; "a private place"; "private discussions"; "private lessons"; "a private club"; "a private secretary"; "private property"; "the former President is now a private citizen"; "public figures struggle to maintain a private life"
a quantity of no importance; "it looked like nothing I had ever seen before"; "reduced to nil all the work we had done"; "we racked up a pathetic goose egg"; "it was all for naught"; "I didn't hear zilch about it"
in no way; to no degree; "he looks nothing like his father"
the quality of being probable; a probable event or the most probable event; "for a while mutiny seemed a probability"; "going by past experience there was a high probability that the visitors were lost"
a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible; "the probability that an unbiased coin will fall with the head up is 0.5"