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 of server

• waiter
• waitress

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

The infrastructures of capitalism now flow through cables and cloud servers that states have been slow and economically disincentivized to regulate. —Literary Hub, 28 May 2026

The gains have been supported by rising demand for high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI servers and accelerators. —Justina Lee, CNBC, 28 May 2026

While technology will be the centerpiece, the facility — tentatively named the Connecticut Center for Applied AI — won’t have enormous banks of computer servers or the high-capacity energy and cooling systems that are trademarks of data centers. —Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 28 May 2026

Supporting this thesis, Intel's core server CPU division is set for a revival as agentic AI workloads increase. —Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026

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

Rhymes for server

• fervor
• fervour
• observer
• preserver

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