social services

noun

A government-run program meant to benefit society as a whole, with a particular view to the less economically fortunate.

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Meanings

nounsocial services pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyA government-run program meant to benefit society as a whole, with a particular view to the less economically fortunate.
    1. metonymicallypluralplural onlyThe government employees collectively running such a program.

      “Do ya want some grub? I suppose I betta feed ya,” said the vile woman. “If ya starve to death I’ll have social services all over me like a bleedin’ rash.”

      2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN
      1 more example

      Grace and her twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee) lost their mother during birth, and their alcoholic father during their hardscrabble childhood. The pair are divided up by social services, Grace sent to one side of the continent, Gilbert to the other.

      2024 October 23, Jacob Oller, “Clay weepy Memoir Of A Snail crawls through a gauntlet of misery”, in AV Club

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 社會服務 /社会服务, 社会服务
  • 社會服務 /社会服务 (shèhuì fúwù)program
  • 社会服务 (shèhuì fúwù)program
Finnish sosiaalipalvelu
  • sosiaalipalveluprogram
German Sozialleistung
  • Sozialleistungprogram
Polish opieka społeczna, pomoc społeczna
  • opieka społecznaprogram
  • pomoc społecznaprogram
Swedish socialtjänst
  • socialtjänstprogram
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: social services on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.