Collocations for "serve"
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word "serve" in context.
WordReference English Collocations © 2025
serve
ⓘMost examples are given in US English. We have labeled exceptions as UK.v
- serve [dinner, lunch]
- the [waiter, host] served [us, the food]
- were served by the [waiter]
- serve it over [rice, ice, pasta]
- serve as the [appetizer, main course, dessert]
- serve your [customers, clients]
- serve the [public, community]
- serve the [needs, interests] of
- serves a purpose
- serve you [better, more efficiently]
- serve and [protect, provide, support]
- serve time [in prison, for murder]
- serve [five years] [at, in]
- serve your sentence
- serve in [the military, Vietnam]
- serve in office
- serve as [president, secretary]
- sports: served [the ball, an ace]
- serves to [highlight, outline, reinforce, strengthen, make, increase]
- serves you right
- a [tennis, squash, volleyball] serve
- his [first, second] serve
- a [good, poor, fast, slow] serve
- a serve in [tennis]
- a [100, 140] -mph serve
- the player [broke, held, aced] his serve
- returned the serve
- [hit, smashed] the serve into the net
- the serve [was, went] [wide, long]
- the serve was [challenged, out]
- whose serve is it?
'serve' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Caribbean
- alternative
- appetizer
- barrel
- bed
- benchmark
- beverage
- bloody
- breakfast
- chilled
- cocktail
- coffee
- commission
- community
- courageous
- customer
- dip
- diversion
- drip
- example
- excess
- faithfully
- flask
- functional
- guest
- hamburger
- herring
- honor
- ice
- index
- individual
- lamb
- lazy
- let
- license
- lively
- mandate
- mankind
- meal
- namely
- nation
- neither
- net
- nip
- nut
- panel
- pastry
- porridge
- prime
- prison