IP#Mi£ I 7 a serve your/its 'turn
(BrE)
to be useful for a
particular purpose or period of time
fftfll? serve two 'masters (usually used in
negative sentences ii # ffj T 7? M 7j) to support two opposing parties,
principles, etc. at the same time ft $ lift ( |Wj ) ; WHHTM#XftJITvMft|h] — more at first adv., memory .serve sth<-*'out
1
to continue doing sth, especially working
or staying
in prison, for a fixed
period of time that has been set 7 M M ff>J
: He has three more years in prison
before he’s served out his
sentence.
ft Its li tit (Pi $7 O
(BrE?) They didn’t want me to serve out my notice.
ft; 0 2 (BrE)
to share food or drink between a number of people ) ; ( ft&A ) A^S: I went
around the guests serving
out drinks. HoPl&k^SNRlrA .serve sth^'up 1 to put food onto
plates and give it to people ) : He served up a delicious
meal. #l ij® ± — 1S 7J P
PTtfe 311 2 to give, offer or
provide sth ; $!(*; She
served up the usual excuse. (rtfc*n ft #]ff
PEEJift-'S?o 0 The teams served up some fantastic entertainment.
&SPA$tt;7}i0#J^!o ■ noun (in tennis, etc. $c %£) the action
of serving the ball to your opponent
server /'S3iva(r); NAmE 'S3:rv-/ noun 1 (computing iff) a computer
program that controls or supplies information to several computers connected
in a network; the main computer on which this program is run M# ££
2
(sport ft) a player who is serving, for example in
tennis "folkt# 3 [usually pi.] a
kitchen utensil (= tool) used for
putting food onto sb’s plate J| (
ft#A
r, ) :
salad servers ft&im
#jXIk
—picture o cutlery 4 (NAmE) a person who serves food in a restaurant;
a waiter or waitress ( Hit ff.ft# 5 a person who helps
a priest during a church service ( 1
) fft^; MU
servery /'S3:vari; NAmE 'S3:rv-/ noun (pi. -ies) (BrE) part of a restaurant where you collect your food to
take back to your table )
service 0-w /'s3:
►
PROVIDING STHftg(X i [c] a system that
provides sth that
the public needs,
organized by the government or a private company A it J3R # % ; A X 7 ik : the
ambulance/bus/telephone, etc. service
^ A . A A. O The government aims to improve
public services, especially education. iElCJftl&AAt&iirA
XM #77, o Essential services (= the
supply of water, gas,
electricity) will be maintained, ft fSiGMUM*, Hfom®. temmiZ®.', —see also emergency
services, postal service 2 (also Service) [C] an organization or
a company that provides sth for the public or does sth for the government
Aff^ikfllfkJ ( ^A^l ) : the prison service 0 the BBC
World Service ^ H ft |$ A X] M ft ft H — see also civil service, Diplomatic Service, fire
service, health service, Internal Revenue Service, National Health Service,
secret service, Security Service, social services 3 [C, U] a business
whose work involves doing sth for customers but not producing goods; the work
that such a business does
( ^cffr^lk, ik# ) : financial
services ^if! A^1 o the development of new goods and services Iff #J iti cm ffP M # 0 Smith’s
Catering Services (= a company) offers the best value, ft ^ IBM X A *]
M ft # ft UK#o o We guarantee (an) excellent service. HsCH^iffM ft it Jjfc
HR # o 0 the service sector (=
the part of the economy involved in this type of business) IK # fk 0 a
service industry JM#ftffik
►
IN HOTEL/SHOP/RESTAURANT
; jtjjft; §ft 4 [U] the serving of customers in hotels,
restaurants, and shops/ stores () Ml#, IK#: The food was good but the
service was very slow. (£ % A ft, (fi rfj ft A M 0
0 10% will be added to your bill for service.
IP
10% #)IK#^o O Our main concern is to provide
quality customer service. He111 ®
X>7 #J H X M # $1 ft(t II^0 — see also room service, self-service
| 1821
3
WORK FOR ORGANIZATION 5 [U] ~ (to sth) the
work that sb does for an
organization, etc., especially when it continues for a long time or is admired
very much ( ) Xft, IK#: She
has just celebrated 25
years’ service with the company. Ml
i BftA^HfflR 25 o The employees have
good conditions of
service. 0
After retiring, she became involved in voluntary
service in the local community.
HIK#Xft0
— see also jury
service at jury duty
4
OF VEHICLE/MACHINE ft 11 T.it: till- 6 [U] the use that
you can get from a
vehicle or machine; the state of being used ft ft ; ft A J52.: That computer
gave us very good service. He (|j IP A if % ft IS if A 0
0 The ship will be taken out of service
within two years. IP® Mi#ft M f 1^1 ii IS:
0 7 [C] an
examination of a vehicle or
machine followed by any work
that is necessary to keep it operating well Mli; ft; ^11^; I had
taken the car in for a
service. 0 a
service engineer ££ ft ijrp —see also after-sales service
5
SKILLS/HELP ft A ; f| 8 [usually pi.] ~ (of sb) | ~ (as
sb/sth)
the
particular skills or help that a person is able to offer ( H
ft ft A W ) M # : You
need the
services of a good lawyer. .
0
He offered his services as a driver. JFfto,
6
ARMY/NAVY/AIR FORCE [ff/V ; Hj
'ft; 9
[C, usually pi.,
U]
the army, the navy and the air force; the work done by people in them H A; : Most of the
boys went straight into
the services.
ft To 0 He saw service
in North-Africa. ft If-ft it A Mft ft „ o a service family % A M M — see also active
SERVICE, MILITARY SERVICE, NATIONAL SERVICE
7
RELIGIOUS CEREMONY 10 [C] a religious ceremony moming/eveningservice
HH;
o to hold/attend a service / #lPiL^ o a jfuneral/marriage/memorial,
etc. service ft p .
8
BUS/TRAIN Aft- Rft ; 'k A 11 [C, usually sing.] a bus,
train, etc. that goes
regularly to a particular place at a particular time JEE ft ; ft ft : the cancellation
of the 10.15 service to
9
ON MOTORWAY tWiftAif!# 12 services [sing.+sing./pl. v.]
(BrE) a place beside a motorway where you can stop for petrol, a meal, the toilets,
etc. (. RTlPft, ^, ±
motorway services o
It’s five miles to the
next services, i® T ^ ft ®
# ^ Iff ft 21 — see also service area,
service station
10
IN TENNIS [xx] 13 [C] an act of
hitting the ball in order to start playing; the way that you hit it
EYi7l serve : It’s your service
(= your turn to start playing). iM ft ft f
0 o Her service has improved, ft#J
11
SET OF PLATES, ETC. 1/ if # ii ft
14
[C] a complete set of
plates, dishes, etc. that
match each other a
tea service (= cups, saucers, a teapot and plates, for serving tea) — see also dinner service
12
BEING SERVANT ft ft A 15 [U] (old-fashioned)
the state or
position of being a servant ft
Aft ft ( ) : to be
in/go into service (= to be/become a
servant) # / ft ft
13
OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENT iE A ft (ft 16 [U] (law W)
the formal giving of an official document, etc. to sb
the service of a demand
for payment
at the service of
sb/sth |
at
sb*s 'service completely available for sb to use or to help sb fig
fff nj ) : Health care must be at the service of all who need it.
ft Jc # II IR # o 0 (formal
or humorous) If you need anything, I am at your service, left 'a
,
nfi 0 be of 'service (to
sb) (format) to be useful or
helpful ( Can I be of service to
anyone? W
t£ M 3? ffc W ‘It ^ ? do sb a/no 'service (format) to do
sth that is helpful/not helpful to sb /f H T ( MfcShk ) SA: She
was doing herself no service by remaining silent.
—
more at press
v.