serves

present tense third-person singular of serve
1
as in works (for)
to be a servant for he served his master faithfully for 20 years

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in suffices
to be enough they made the pasta serve for eight guests

Synonyms & Similar Words

3
as in does
to be fitting or proper those old riding boots will serve for now, but you'll need newer ones for the horse show

Synonyms & Similar Words

4
5
as in acts
to have a certain purpose the harsh punishment served to teach everyone a lesson

Synonyms & Similar Words

6
as in benefits
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 serves Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to this Friday’s most essential releases — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond. Jason Lipshutz, Billboard, 12 Sep. 2025 The local office of the OIJ in Quepos, which serves the central Pacific area of the country and is in the area where Miller Gardner died, told CNN on Friday that it was asked to expand its investigation into the case. Djenane Villanueva, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025 One of the highlights of Quark’s itinerary is a two-day call at Puerto Natales, a backpacker-friendly town of some 20,000 people that serves as the gateway to Torres del Paine. Stefanie Waldek, AFAR Media, 12 Sep. 2025 Megan Ganz serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner on the pilot. Joe Otterson, Variety, 12 Sep. 2025 Ganz serves as writer, executive producer and showrunner. Denise Petski, Deadline, 12 Sep. 2025 Videos of the protest show immigration agents firing pepper balls at protesters outside the facility in Broadview, Illinois, that serves as a processing center for immigrants headed to agency locations outside Illinois. Michael Loria, USA Today, 12 Sep. 2025 Chorizo, a zesty pork sausage used in Mexican and Spanish cuisines, serves this goal admirably. Taylor Tobin, Southern Living, 12 Sep. 2025 The United flight then landed at Kansai airport, which serves the Japanese cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. Shane Croucher john Feng, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for serves
Verb
  • Creating a Partiful event or even texting the group suffices.
    Shelby Wax, Vogue, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The complete sentence, housed in a single Arabic word, أحبّك, suffices when the world closes in and there is no room for longer declarations, for the leisure of language and its constructions.
    Nima Hasan August 15, Literary Hub, 15 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Charleston doesn’t do seasons the way the rest of America does.
    Jenn Rice, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Never follow your boyfriend to college, especially a seemingly mediocre college, as Belly does with Jeremiah to the fictional Finch.
    Vogue, Vogue, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The fact that this balm’s blend of hyaluronic microspheres, glycerin, and fruit extracts treats lips to long-lasting, intense levels of moisture.
    Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
  • The Missing Middle Traditional education treats marketing as a creative discipline or a collection of disconnected principles or tactics.
    Christine Pilkington, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The order, which, again, acts like one blanket prescription, allows pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to look at FDA approval for vaccines and not ACIP recommendations.
    Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Now there’s the new Yummy Skin Liquid Blurring Balm Mattifying Setting Spray, a weightless setting spray that acts like a blurring and mattifying powder.
    Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Led by Lehigh University in partnership with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center in Silicon Valley and TU Dortmund University in Germany, our preliminary sample found that higher well-being actually benefits founders not only personally but also professionally.
    Samantha Dewalt, Fortune, 12 Sep. 2025
  • The swim benefits the lighthouse’s ongoing preservation.
    Kelsey Glennon, Southern Living, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Murtagh attends the service but won’t sit next to Brian and tries to evade him afterward.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Whether someone attends an event, visits the gallery, or donates to a charity, Joan emphasizes the importance of staying in touch.
    William Jones, USA Today, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The sensor handles up to 70Gs of acceleration and has a sensitivity of up to 30,000 dots per inch (DPI).
    PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Even when a partner bank handles underwriting, platforms may still face liability for compliance failures.
    AJ Dhaliwal, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Several SSDs can be combined into a single RAID that then functions as a single drive.
    Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The researchers also discovered a feedback loop between GH and a brainstem hub called the locus coeruleus, which functions to keep us alert.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 8 Sep. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Serves.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serves. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on serves

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!