1
as in to attend
to be a servant for
he served his master faithfully for 20 years
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
3
4
as in to treat
to behave toward in a stated way
my parents served me well in preparing me for life
Synonyms & Similar Words
5
6
as in to benefit
to provide with something useful or desirable
an excellent college that served her with the skills necessary to make it in today's job market
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of serve
Officials say that general counsel Karen Buffkin will serve in an acting leadership role to ensure continuity of operations while the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education determines next steps in the selection of new leadership.
—
Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 25 Apr. 2026
Before Snow heads off to serve his sentence, President Warnock (Peter Hudson) receives the news that his daughter, Emilie (Maggie Grace), who was investigating issues around MS One, has been taken hostage by the prisoners who have woken up.
—Sergio Pereira, Space.com, 25 Apr. 2026
Certain cardholders were given early access—membership really does have its privileges—but the rest of the roughly 140 seats were offered first-come, first-served on social media.
—Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 25 Apr. 2026
Adams serves as the president of SMART 1741, which represents bus drivers and staff in San Francisco and San Mateo schools, according to her campaign website.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 25 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for serve
Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 25 Apr. 2026
Before Snow heads off to serve his sentence, President Warnock (Peter Hudson) receives the news that his daughter, Emilie (Maggie Grace), who was investigating issues around MS One, has been taken hostage by the prisoners who have woken up.
—Sergio Pereira, Space.com, 25 Apr. 2026
Certain cardholders were given early access—membership really does have its privileges—but the rest of the roughly 140 seats were offered first-come, first-served on social media.
—Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 25 Apr. 2026
Adams serves as the president of SMART 1741, which represents bus drivers and staff in San Francisco and San Mateo schools, according to her campaign website.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 25 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for serve
Recent Examples of Synonyms for serve
Verb
-
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hosted the meeting, which was also attended by Vice President JD Vance and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
-
His children attend private schools.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
And, against many a playoff team, that would probably suffice.—
Tony Jones,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Cavina says a light tap on the nose while working with lion cubs would suffice when things started to go south.—
Tabitha Parent,
PEOPLE,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The governor’s comments underscored the limited power of the commission, which could not issue subpoenas, file charges or compel anyone to do anything.—
Olivia Olander,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
-
The New York Knicks emphatically did so with a scoreline that should be reserved for horror movies.—
Dan Santaromita,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
Medics treated the victims at the scene, while responding officers continued to investigate.—
Alexa Ashwell,
Baltimore Sun,
1 May 2026
-
The American startup’s chatbots are banned in mainland China, and Goldman’s move suggests US AI firms could increasingly treat Hong Kong as off-limits as well, the Financial Times reported.—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Officials say that general counsel Karen Buffkin will serve in an acting leadership role to ensure continuity of operations while the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education determines next steps in the selection of new leadership.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
25 Apr. 2026
-
To sniff out the atomic hydrogen — the more diffuse, cooler gas that acts as the initial, sprawling reservoir for future star formation — the team harnessed the immense power of China's Five Hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST).—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Altman pitched the conversion as critical to securing the vast amount of funding OpenAI needs to fulfill its mission of creating artificial general intelligence — or AGI — that will benefit humanity.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The case centers on Musk’s claim that OpenAI, Altman and Microsoft betrayed OpenAI's original mission as a nonprofit to benefit humanity by forming a for-profit entity in March 2019, 13 months after Musk left the OpenAI board.—
Deepa Seetharaman,
USA Today,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The metaphor perfectly fits the 6-foot-5 Jordan, who casts an imposing figure on the mound.—
Patrick Z. McGavin,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Apr. 2026
-
The roomy interior easily fits travel essentials—think a camera, wallet, passport, portable charger, phone, and more—without feeling bulky.—
Rosie Marder,
Travel + Leisure,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The recruitment has been part of that — Leipzig bought well and sold the players who needed to leave — but Werner has handled a young squad particularly well, minimising the volatility that was such a feature of their football last season.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The lieutenant who handled his Skelly conference wrote that Webster accepted full responsibility for his actions and apologized.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Serve.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serve. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
