serving 1 of 3

adjective

Definition of servingnext
as in producing

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

serving

2 of 3

noun

as in dinner

Related Words

serving

3 of 3

verb

present participle of serve
1
as in attending
to be a servant for he served his master faithfully for 20 years

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in sufficing
to be enough they made the pasta serve for eight guests

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in doing
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
as in treating
to behave toward in a stated way my parents served me well in preparing me for life

Synonyms & Similar Words
5
as in acting
to have a certain purpose the harsh punishment served to teach everyone a lesson

Synonyms & Similar Words
6
as in benefiting
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 serving
Adjective
But for the vast majority of everyday cooking tasks—stirring, folding, sautéing, serving—high-quality silicone outperforms the competition on the merits that matter most. — Jamie Thilman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 20 Apr. 2026
Noun
But some excellent serving — and a little pressure from her past self — has propelled her to a fourth-round matchup against Aryna Sabalenka. — Ava Wallace, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2026 For example, Sam’s Club rotisserie chicken contains 430 milligrams of sodium per 3-ounce serving. — Jillian Kubala, HEALTH, 1 Sep. 2026
Verb
The New Mexico attorney general filed a lawsuit Wednesday against two of Jeffrey Epstein's closest confidants, seeking to stop them from receiving payments for serving as executors of his estate. — Graham Kates, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026 Its charter calls for four board members appointed by the chair, with the board chair serving as a voting member. — Charlotte Observer, 21 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for serving
Recent Examples of Synonyms for serving
  1. producing
  2. dinner
  3. attending
  4. doing
  5. befitting
  6. treating
  7. acting
  8. benefiting
Adjective
  • Stan Spry, Henry Boger and Anthony Fankhauser are producing; Jeff Holland, Geoff Silverman, Slavkin and Swimmer are exec producing; and Pam Mitchell is co-producing.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Eric Ollerenshaw produces the film, which was shot in the Midlands with Wolverhampton company New Lion Films co-producing, giving the project a regional footprint outside London.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of producing
Noun
  • Pair it with the matching Cherry Check toaster and flameless dinner candles to complete the look from the kitchen to the dining room—after all, each piece is on clearance.
    — Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The deal includes a 16-pound turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries, dinner rolls, peas, carrots, celery, whipping cream and pumpkin pie ingredients.
    — Chiara Kim, PEOPLE, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of dinner
Verb
  • According to reporting by Semafor on Monday, the decision came after Wall Street executives privately raised safety concerns about attending the event with the event’s organizers, including Saudi sovereign fund PIF’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
    — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
  • In an exclusive interview with People published Wednesday, Schumer recalled attending an impromptu wedding celebration after discovering a ceremony taking place on the beach near her family's accommodations.
    — Danielle Minnetian, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of attending
Verb
  • In 2025 the hyperscalers alone poured more than $300 billion into data centers, chips, and grid capacity, and that spend is doing real work in the top-line growth figures.
    — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
  • What employers are doing Kostka says there have recently been fewer health insurers in her area to choose from.
    — Alana Semuels, Time, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of doing
Verb
  • Allen passed for 210 yards and rushed for 121 more for the Bills (4-1), who rallied to win a frantic game befitting the teams with the NFL's last two MVPs at quarterback.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Allen passed for 210 yards and rushed for 121 more for the Bills (4-1), who rallied to win a back-and-forth thriller befitting the teams with the NFL’s last two MVPs at quarterback.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of befitting
Verb
  • Rather than treating logistics and air defense as entirely separate missions, the same basic platform could support different tasks through modular equipment and mission-specific configurations.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The first generation to grow up with free trades on their phones is treating the election as a market event.
    — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of treating
Verb
  • After Maduro was deposed, Venezuela's highest court said Rodríguez could serve as acting president for up to 90 days -- an interim appointment that could be extended by the National Assembly for an additional 90 days.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
  • And when Dad got to the University of Southern California and briefly tried his hand at acting in the 1930s, casting directors rechristened him Lee Byron.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of acting
Verb
  • Explore See latest videos, charts and news Gillies announced the project on social media alongside an auction benefiting Support Act, the Australian charity that provides crisis relief and mental health support to musicians and crew.
    — Jessica Lynch, Billboard, 26 Oct. 2026
  • More generally, the focus is on volume growth across Linde's end markets, especially electronics, which grew 18% last quarter, benefiting from the data center buildout.
    — Kevin Stankiewicz,Zev Fima, CNBC, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of benefiting

Browse Nearby Words

servility
serving
servings
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Serving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/serving. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All