service

plural services · alternative obsolete seruice

1. countableuncountableAn act of being of assistance to someone.

   I say I did him a service by ending our relationship – now he can freely pursue his career.

   2 more examples

   The Parliament for ever cries more money, / The service of the state demands more money. / Just heaven! of what service is the state?

   1794, Robert Southey, Wat Tyler. A Dramatic Poem. In Three Acts, London: J[ohn] M‘Creery, […] for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], published 1817, →OCLC, Act I, page 7

   Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

2. countableuncountableThe state of being subordinate to or employed by an individual or group.

   Lancelot was at the service of King Arthur.

   1 more example

   The lesser griefs that may be said, / ⁠That breathe a thousand tender vows, / ⁠Are but as servants in a house / Where lies the master newly dead; / Who speak their feeling as it is, / ⁠And weep the fulness from the mind: / ⁠‘It will be hard’ they say ‘to find / Another service such as this.’

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 33

3. uncountableellipticalWork as a member of the military.

   Thank you for your service.

   1 more example

   Students were exempt from service in the armed forces.

   Synonyms: military service

4. countableuncountableThe military.

   the service

   1 more example

   I did three years in the service before coming here.

   Synonyms: forces

5. countableuncountableeconomicsThe practice of providing assistance as economic activity.

   Hair care is a service industry.

   1 more example

   The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",[...]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.

   2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27

6. countableuncountablebusinessSynonym of utility (“commodity provided on a continuous basis by a physical infrastructure network, such as electricity, water supply or sewerage”).

   Synonyms: utility

7. countableuncountableA department in a company, organization, or institution.
8. countableuncountablecomputingA function that is provided by one program or machine for another.

   This machine provides the name service for the LAN.

9. countableuncountableA set of dishes or utensils.

   She brought out the silver tea service.

   1 more example

   When their lavish fiestas ended they threw the silver service and even golden vessels from their balconies to be picked up by lucky passersby.

   1997, Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, Monthly Review Press, page 36

10. countableuncountablehobbiesThe act of initially starting, or serving, the ball in play in tennis, volleyball, and other games.

    The player had four service faults in the set.

11. countableuncountableA religious rite or ritual.

    The funerary service was touching.

    1 more example

    Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

    1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

12. countableuncountablelawThe serving, or delivery, of a summons or writ.

    The service happened yesterday.

    1 more example

    He Suſpends on theſe Reaſons, that Thomas Rue had granted a general Diſcharge to Adam Muſhet, who was his Conjunct, and correus debendi, after the alleadged Service, which Diſcharged Muſhet, and conſequently Houstoun his Partner.

    1668 July 3, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 548

13. IsraelalsocountableuncountableWest Bank; Lebanon and Syria; West Bank; Lebanon and SyriaA taxi shared among unrelated passengers, each of whom pays part of the fare; often, it has a fixed route between cities.
14. countableuncountableA musical composition for use in churches.
15. countableobsoleteuncountableProfession of respect; acknowledgment of duty owed.

    Pray, do my service to his majesty.

    1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]

16. countableuncountablenauticalThe materials used for serving a rope, etc., such as spun yarn and small lines.
17. countableuncountableAccess to resources such as hotel rooms and Web-based videos without transfer of the resources' ownership.

present singular third person services · participle present servicing · participle past serviced · past serviced · alternative obsolete seruice

1. transitiveTo serve.

   They service the customer base.

   1 more example

   The USS Manila Bay, in the next group south of Taffy 3, services aircraft from eleven different squadrons that aren't attached to her own flight group, and, at one point, has representatives from no less than four other carriers' airgroups on her flight deck at the same time.

   2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 28:07 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2022

   1. transitiveTo perform maintenance.

      He is going to service the car.

      2 more examples

      2 GWM businessmen seek young GM to service nice small country home in So. NH

      1980 August 30, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 6, page 14

      Today’s announcement covers trash from higher-density residential buildings, whose building managers will put their trash into stationary on-street containers known as Empire Bins. […] They will be serviced by North America’s first automated side-loading trucks.

      2026 April 17, “Mayor Mamdani Takes Major Step Toward Citywide Trash Containerization, Announces Six New Districts”, in NYC.gov, archived from the original on 03 Jul 2026

   2. transitivepublic relationsTo supply (media outlets) with press releases etc.

      […] instead of expending so much of their PR effort on servicing the media.

      1971, College and University Journal, volumes 10-11, page 9

      1 more example

      One obvious way is press releases, which should be sent to your region's reporters, editors and columnists, the wire services, professional publications. […] Servicing the media should be an everyday thing.

      1977, Patricia Marshall, Citizen Participation Certification for Community Development, page 107

2. transitiveTo make a repayment or pay interest (on a debt).

   It continues to be laden with intense debt servicing costs.

3. euphemistictransitiveagricultureTo inseminate through sexual intercourse.
4. transitivevulgarTo perform a sexual act upon.

   He serviced her several times a week.

   Synonyms: be with

5. euphemistictransitivegovernmentTo attack.

   target servicing

   1 more example

   to service a target

plural services · alternative obsolete seruice

1. Service tree.
2. The sorb; the fruit of this tree.

1. A surname.
2. An unincorporated community in Crawford County, Missouri, United States.