serve out

verb

To win a set, or by extension a match, by holding serve (winning a game as the server).

“The politician did not serve out his term.”

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Meanings

verbserve out (third-person singular simple present serves out, present participle serving out, simple past and past participle served out)

present singular third person serves out · participle present serving out · participle past served out · past served out

  1. transitivehobbiesTo win a set, or by extension a match, by holding serve (winning a game as the server).

    She held her nerve after failing to serve out the match at the first attempt, seeing three match points slip by in a nervous service game at 6-4 5-4 and recovering from losing the tie-break to dominate the decider.

    2011 June 28, Piers Newbery, “Wimbledon 2011: Sabine Lisicki beats Marion Bartoli”, in BBC Sport
  2. transitiveTo serve the whole of some period.

    The politician did not serve out his term.

  3. transitiveTo deal out or distribute.

    The waiters served out soup to the guests.

  4. archaictransitiveTo pay back; to have one's revenge on.

    'Yar!' said she, 'you little meddlesome wretch, I have you now! I will serve you out for telling the salmon where I was!'

    1863, Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies
Cite this entry
APA

serve out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/serve%20out

MLA

“serve out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/serve%20out. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “serve out,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/serve%20out.

Source: serve out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.