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

Simplified Management: Managing many VMs is easier than managing the same number of physical servers, which also applies to virtual clusters compared to physical Kubernetes clusters. —Lukas Gentele, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024

On a larger scale, any company will have to deal with the price of connecting to an API or running their own servers, multiplied across every player. —Jay Castello, The Verge, 17 Oct. 2024

Our server told us the room was locked with no other way in or out. —Julie Jordan, People.com, 17 Oct. 2024

The group escalated their attacks to Microsoft's servers and demanded $1 million to teach their employees how to stop the attack. —Minnah Arshad, USA TODAY, 17 Oct. 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