server

noun

serv·​er ˈsər-vər 

1

: one that serves food or drink

2

: the player who serves (as in tennis)

3

: something used in serving food or drink

4

: one that serves legal processes upon another

5

: the celebrant's assistant at mass

6

: a computer in a network that is used to provide services (such as access to files or shared peripherals or the routing of email) to other computers in the network

Synonyms

• garçon
• waiter
• waitperson

Examples of server in a Sentence

She asked our server for another glass of wine.

we had barely finished ordering when the server brought our salads

Recent Examples on the Web

There were already problems with hit registration, bugs, server stability and all the rest back in 2020. —Erik Kain, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024

Both studies are yet to be peer-reviewed and are available on the pre-print server bioRxiv. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024

Her comments come more than a week after Bravo announced VPR will return for season 12 but with a new cast featuring servers, hosts and bartenders at Lisa Vanderpump’s SUR and TomTom. —Stephanie Wenger, People.com, 5 Dec. 2024

The bout crashed Netflix servers, leading to pending lawsuits from angry customers. —Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English server, servere, from serven "to serve entry 1" + -er, -ere -er entry 2

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing server

• ad server
• altar server
• blade server

Kids Definition

server

noun

serv·​er ˈsər-vər 

1

: a person who serves food or drink

2

: the player who puts a ball in play

3

: something (as a tray) used in serving food or drink

4

: a computer in a network that is used to provide services (as access to files or the delivery of email) to other computers