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# serve

«serve» in Mova's school dictionary: **to give food or drink to people** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb, noun (serve, serves, served, serving)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To serve is to give food or drink to people. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#m1)

2) A dish that serves 4 is enough food for 4 people. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#m2)

3) To serve is to work for or help others, like a shop assistant serves customers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#m3)

4) In tennis or volleyball, to serve is to hit the ball to start play; a serve is that hit. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#m4)

5) To serve in the army or on a team is to work in it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#m5)

6) «It serves you right» means you deserved the bad thing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#m6)

### sense in the lessons

Maths: sharing food — a dish serves so many people; things served counted; «serves n» is a rate per item: items needed = people ÷ n (round up). Everyday: serving dinner, a serving spoon, being served in a shop. Sport: serve in tennis, badminton and volleyball. Phrases: serve up, first come first served.

### examples

- One pizza serves 4 people. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#x1)
- The cafe served 120 meals today. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#x2)
- How many pizzas does she need to serve 20 people? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#x3)
- Each cook serves 15 plates an hour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#x4)
- The waiter served our drinks first. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#x5)
- Are you being served? asked the shop assistant. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#x6)
- She served the ball hard over the net. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#x7)
- Grandma served in the navy when she was young. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#x8)
- Serve the soup while it is hot. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#x9)
- For dinner the Fox served soup. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/#x10)

### note

Regular verb: served, serving. A serving is one portion. «Serves n» is a rate per item: items needed = people ÷ n. Trap: a part item cannot be bought, so round up (21 people, pizzas serve 4: 6 pizzas, not 5.25). «Serve» someone (no «to»): serve the customers.

### In the corpora

- [Now I am ashamed, and it serves me right.»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/96-justso-butterfly-1-the-boast/19/)
- ["Made the ultimate sacrifice" means died in war while serving one's country.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/16/)
- ["Doing time" means serving a prison sentence.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/27-crime-prison-and-police/9/)
- [You wait until everyone is seated and served before eating, unless the host says to start.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/127-excuse-me-and-table-manners/10/)
- [You wait until everyone is seated and served before eating, unless the host says to start.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/221-respect-greetings-goodbyes-and-the-table/14/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «serve» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/serve/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.