seriousness         1820 |

# fill BE ? o They are seriously concerned about security, fife f|] #        ^      |nj ££ 0    0 Smoking can

seriously damage your health.

2 used at the beginning of a sentence to show a change from joking to being more serious (

A $ IE ^ ) ift JE fill,   Seriously though, it

could be really dangerous.

fill®fti &o 3 (informal) very; extremely ##;

They’re seriously rich. fMJMAll AA ITtlTl take sb/sth 'seriously to think that sb/sth is important and deserves your attention and respect     : We take

threats of this kind very seriously. fJJ0 0 Why can’t you ever take anything seriously? jfoM

ser ious ness /'siariasnas; NAmE 'sir-/ noun [u, sing.] the state of being serious ft; iAlt; : He spoke with

a seriousness that was unusual in him. ftfeiftijlf

IETOI in all 'seriousness very seriously; not as a joke ItW; iAiUlStfi; sermon /'S3:man; NAmE 'S3:rman/ noun 1 a talk on a moral or religious subject, usually given by a religious leader during a service /ft H; j# H o note at speech 2 (informal, usually disapproving) moral advice that a person tries to give you in a long talk sermonize (erf also -ise) /'S3:manaiz; NAmE 'S3:rm-/ verb [V] (disapproving) to give moral advice, especially when it is boring or not wanted ( kXEU'MM ) ik

Wi, tfcilll BDIl MORALIZE

sero tonin /,sera'taunm; NAmE -'toun-/ noun [u] a chem­ical in the brain that affects how messages are sent from the brain to the body, and also affects how a person feels ifil i#

mm)

serpent /'S3:pant; NAmE 'S3:rp / noun (literary) a snake, especially a large one ££; ( jtis ) A4& serpen-tine /'S3:pantain; NAmE 's3:rpanti:n/ adj. {literary) bending and twisting like a snake % ft ft fill; tt 68 6$; $e fill; if 0 fill HT1 winding : the serpentine course of the river ^68®#ffiCMII serrated /sa'reitid/ adj. having a series of sharp points on the edge like a saw Sr IA 6$ : a knife with a serrated edge       ® A fill 7J — picture c> cutlery

serra-tion /se'reijn/ noun a part on an edge or the blade of a knife that is sharp and pointed like a saw

serried /'serid/ adj. [usually before noun] (literary) standing or arranged closely together in rows or lines

( ff#l ) fill , & H fill , Hfife W : serried ranks of soldiers

serum /'siaram; NAmE 'siram/ noun (pi sera /-ra/ or ser­ums) 1 [U] (biology 7) the thin liquid that remains from blood when the rest has clotted jfiL if 2 [U, C] {medical EE) serum taken from the blood of an animal and given to people to protect them from disease, poison, etc.

: snakebite serum jjfci&llifiLy# 3 [U] any liquid like water in body tissue %Wl (  )

Ser-Vant 0-w /' S3:vant; NAmE 'S3:rv-/ noun 1 a person who works in another person’s house, and cooks, cleans, etc. for them /ft A; 71 A: a domestic servant %\\- o They treat their mother like a servant. ftfe

2 a person who

works for a company or an organization (

) H in , IR M : a. public servant £ # M — see also civil servant 3 a person or thing that is controlled by sth aR/H&SfM ( j£jt# ) T-6UA;

He was willing to make himself a servant of his art. /& tt BfilJ"2:Ao IM see obedient serve (He /s3:v; NAmE S3:rv/ verb, noun m verb

► F00D/DRINK tA$4 1 ~ sth (with sth) | ~ sth (to sb)

| ~ sb sth to give sb food or drink, for example at a restaurant or during a meal ( f^A ) 41$; ^±: [VN] Breakfast is served between 7 and 10 a.m. ^#$M£Rt|B] Ak 7 A fij 10 & 0 0 Serve the lamb with new potatoes and green beans. ^^BBif4¥±SfPWJJS-—       0

They served a wonderful meal to more than fifty

delegates. 0

The delegates were served with a wonderful meal. ft^CI 0 Pour the sauce over the pasta and serve immediately. jE A $h ;#; A 7Jffi ± A 0 [VNN] She served us a delicious lunch.

& Cl ifc 7 -■ - m Rl P fiD 7«o 0 [V] Shall I serve ? JJfl £ ± M fflj? o [VN-ADJ] The quiche can be served hot or cold. M 2 [VN] (of an amount of food # $1 tfj M) to be enough for sb/sth 1$ ■■■vt ( sSL ff] ) ! This dish will serve four hungry people.

                CUSTOMERS 3 (especially BrE) to help a customer or sell them sth in a shop/store \ IK#: [VN] Are you being served? t A^#l®i? o [V] She was serving behind the counter. #tfe/E/EnlK#o

                BE USEFUL %‘h] 4 [VN] to be useful to sb in achieving or

satisfying sth ft ••• fj J£ & M : These

experiments serve no useful purpose.

^ P7 M X o O Most of their economic policies serve the interests of big business.    n*A£ik

fill f!J ^ 0 0 How can we best serve the needs of future generations?        0 His

linguistic ability served him well in his chosen profes­sion.

                PROVIDE STH HI* 5 [VN] ~ sb (with sth) to provide an

area or a group of people with a product or service (  41$: The town is well

served with buses and major road links.

O The

centre will serve the whole community.       Ail

                BE SUITABLE it £ 6 [V] ~ (as sth) to be suitable for a particular use, especially when nothing else is available

7T^--7£ (  ) : The sofa will

serve as a bed for a night or two. £1? %. nj \>X ij ^

                HAVE PARTICULAR RESULT r 7* I'ft/A |7~ (as sth) to have a particular effect or result ^4 - fill^ Ip ^ ) : [V] The judge said the punishment would serve as a warning to others.

0 o [V to inf] The attack was unsuccessful and served only to alert the enemy.        £ rMSfc AW^

                WORK I f| 8 ~ (sb) (as sth) | ~ (in/on/with sth) |

~ (under/with sb) to work or perform duties for a person, an organization, a country, etc. ( A -• Mf£, IK#, IlfrA#,   [V] He served as a captain in

the army.       0 She served in the

medical corps. Afe & E # fft PA IK ik ^ o 0 He served under Edward Heath in the 1970s. ftfe^7 20 ttlE 70

Wt-P • # JS ^ 7 ft IK o 0 [VN] I wanted to work some­where where I could serve the community. ^A/&AX:IK#fifj7#Wf&o O He served the family faith­fully for many years {= as a servant). /tC&'ll'lklC C]f^ jA^A^^c 9 ~ (as sth) to spend a period of time in a particular job or training for a job jf$j A ; fi/i ( IR # ) N-1a] H ; in ill A : [VN] He served a one-year apprenticeship. ftfe#7“^7filJ^;^o 0 [V] She was elected to serve as secretary of the local party. M A 3^

                TIME IN PRISON       10 [VN] to spend a period of

time in prison IK ( fPJ ) : prisoners serving life sentences IK A ffi CJ (ft 0 !E 0 She is serving two years for theft. M 0 & ^ ^ .7 |E IK M ¥ % IfiJ o 0 He has served time (= been to prison) before.

                OFFICIAL DOCUMENT iftAt# 11 [VN] ~ sth (on sb) |

~ sb with sth (law '0) to give or send sb an official docu­ment, especially one that orders them to appear in court jfi •••   ; |fij ( ^A )  : to serve a writ/

summons on sb A 0 to serve sb with

a writ/summons

                IN SPORT 12 (in tennis, etc.   to start

playing by throwing the ball into the air and hitting it % ( ^ ) ; [V] Who’s serving?  o [VN] She served

an ace.

ITTffll it serves sb 'right (for doing sth) used to say that sth that has happened to sb is their own fault and they deserve it^fifii^l; H W iS #: Left you, did she? It serves you right for being so selfish.