civil service

noun

: the administrative service of a government or international agency exclusive of the armed forces

especially : one in which appointments are determined by competitive examination

Examples of civil service in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Probationary employees are generally those on the job for less than a year and who have yet to gain civil service protection. —CBS News, 21 Feb. 2025

Probationary employees, typically on the job for less than a year, have not yet gained civil service protection. —Gabe Whisnant, Newsweek, 21 Feb. 2025

Federal employees gain civil service job protections only once their probationary period is up. —Andrea Hsu, NPR, 20 Feb. 2025

The Trump administration directed the IRS, like other federal agencies, to let go of workers who have not yet acquired civil service protections due to shorter tenures, typically below one or two years of employment. —Katharina Buchholz, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1770, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for civil service

• interservice
• disservice
• preservice
• nervous
• nervus

Kids Definition

civil service

noun

: the branch of a government that takes care of the business of running a state but that does not include the lawmaking branch, the military, or the court system