11 N‑UNCOUNT When you receive service in a restaurant, hotel, or shop, an employee asks you what you want or gives you what you have ordered. □ Bill was £68 including service and a couple of bar drinks and wine.
12 N‑COUNT A service is a religious ceremony that takes place in a church. □ After the hour-long service, his body was taken to a cemetery in the south of the city.
13 N‑COUNT [usu n N ] A dinner service or a tea service is a complete set of plates, cups, saucers, and other pieces of china. □ …a 60-piece dinner service.
14 N‑COUNT A services is a place beside a motorway where you can buy petrol and other things, or have a meal. [BRIT ] □ They had to pull up, possibly go to a motorway services or somewhere like that. in AM, use rest area 15 N‑COUNT [oft with poss] In tennis, badminton, and some other sports, when it is your service , it is your turn to serve. □ She conceded just three points on her service during the first set.
16 ADJ [ADJ n] Service is used to describe the parts of a building or structure that are used by the staff who clean, repair, or look after it, and are not usually used by the public. □ He wheeled the trolley down the corridor and disappeared with it into the service lift.
17 VERB If you have a vehicle or machine serviced , you arrange for someone to examine, adjust, and clean it so that it will keep working efficiently and safely. □ [have n V -ed] I had my car serviced at the local garage. □ [be V -ed] Make sure that all gas fires and central heating boilers are serviced annually. [Also V n] ● N‑COUNT [usu sing, oft N n] Service is also a noun. □ The car needs a service. □ The company sends a service engineer to fix the disk drive before it fails.
18 VERB If a country or organization services its debts, it pays the interest on them. □ [V n] Almost a quarter of the country's export earnings go to service a foreign debt of $29 billion.
19 VERB If someone or something services an organization, a project, or a group of people, they provide it with the things that it needs in order to function properly or effectively. □ [V n] Fossil fuels such as oil and gas will service our needs for some considerable time to come.
20 → see also active service , Civil Service , community service , emergency services , in-service , National Health Service , national service , public service , room service
21 PHRASE To be at the service of a person or organization means to be available to help or be used by that person or organization. □ The intellectual and moral potential of the world's culture must be put at the service of politics.
22 CONVENTION You can use ' at your service ' after your name as a formal way of introducing yourself to someone and saying that you are willing to help them in any way you can. [FORMULAE ] □ She bowed dramatically. 'Anastasia Krupnik, at your service,' she said.
23 PHRASE If you do someone a service , you do something that helps or benefits them. □ You are doing me a great service, and I'm very grateful to you.
24 PHRASE If a piece of equipment or type of vehicle is in service , it is being used or is able to be used. If it is out of service , it is not being used, usually because it is not working properly. □ Cuts in funding have meant that equipment has been kept in service longer.
25 PHRASE If someone or something is of service to you, they help you or are useful to you. □ That is, after all, the primary reason we live–to be of service to others.
ser|vice|able /sɜː r v I səb ə l/ ADJ If you describe something as serviceable , you mean that it is good enough to be used and to perform its function. □ His Arabic was not as good as his English, but serviceable enough.
se r|vice area (service areas ) N‑COUNT A service area is a place beside a motorway where you can buy petrol and other things, or have a meal. [BRIT ] in AM, use rest area
se r|vice charge (service charges ) N‑COUNT A service charge is an amount that is added to your bill in a restaurant to pay for the work of the person who comes and serves you. □ Most restaurants add a 10 per cent service charge.
se r|vice in|dus|try (service industries ) N‑COUNT A service industry is an industry such as banking or insurance that provides a service but does not produce anything.
ser|vice|man /sɜː r v I smən/ (servicemen ) N‑COUNT A serviceman is a man who is in the army, navy, or air force.
se r|vice pro|vi d|er (service providers ) N‑COUNT A service provider is a company that provides a service, especially an internet service. [COMPUTING ]
se r|vice sta|tion (service stations )
1 N‑COUNT A service station is a place that sells things such as petrol, oil, and spare parts. Service stations often sell food, drink, and other goods.
2 N‑COUNT A service station is a place beside a motorway where you can buy petrol and other things, or have a meal. [BRIT ] in AM, use rest area
ser|vice|woman /sɜː r v I swʊmən/ (servicewomen ) N‑COUNT A servicewoman is a woman who is in the army, navy, or air force.
ser|vi|ette /sɜː r vie t/ (serviettes ) N‑COUNT A serviette is a square of cloth or paper that you use to protect your clothes or to wipe your mouth when you are eating. [BRIT ] in AM, use napkin
ser|vile /sɜː r va I l, [AM ] -v ə l/ ADJ If you say that someone is servile , you disapprove of them because they are too eager to obey someone or do things for them. [FORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ He was subservient and servile. ● ser|vil|ity /sɜː r v I l I ti/ N‑UNCOUNT □ She's a curious mixture of stubbornness and servility.