Definition of serve

"serve" in the noun sense

1. serve, service

sports) a stroke that puts the ball in play

"his powerful serves won the game"

"serve" in the verb sense

1. serve, function

serve a purpose, role, or function

"The tree stump serves as a table"

"The female students served as a control group"

"This table would serve very well"

"His freedom served him well"

"The table functions as a desk"

2. serve

do duty or hold offices serve in a specific function

"He served as head of the department for three years"

"She served in Congress for two terms"

3. serve

contribute or conduce to

"The scandal served to increase his popularity"

4. service, serve

be used by as of a utility

"The sewage plant served the neighboring communities"

"The garage served to shelter his horses"

5. serve, help

help to some food help with food or drink

"I served him three times, and after that he helped himself"

6. serve, serve up, dish out, dish up, dish

provide (usually but not necessarily food

"We serve meals for the homeless"

"She dished out the soup at 8 P.M."

"The entertainers served up a lively show"

7. serve

devote (part of) one's life or efforts to, as of countries, institutions, or ideas

"She served the art of music"

"He served the church"

"serve the country"

8. serve, serve well

promote, benefit, or be useful or beneficial to

"Art serves commerce"

"Their interests are served"

"The lake serves recreation"

"The President's wisdom has served the country well"

9. serve, do

spend time in prison or in a labor camp

"He did six years for embezzlement"

10. serve, attend to, wait on, attend, assist

work for or be a servant to

"May I serve you?"

"She attends the old lady in the wheelchair"

"Can you wait on our table, please?"

"Is a salesperson assisting you?"

"The minister served the King for many years"

11. serve, process, swear out

deliver a warrant or summons to someone

"He was processed by the sheriff"

12. suffice, do, answer, serve

be sufficient be adequate, either in quality or quantity

"A few words would answer"

"This car suits my purpose well"

"Will $100 do?"

"A `B' grade doesn't suffice to get me into medical school"

"Nothing else will serve"

13. serve

do military service

"She served in Vietnam"

"My sons never served, because they are short-sighted"

14. serve, service

mate with

"male animals serve the females for breeding purposes"

15. serve

put the ball into play

"It was Agassi's turn to serve"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.


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Quotations for serve

He that serves must serve. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

No man can serve two masters. [ Jesus ]

Dirty troughs will serve dirty sows. [ Proverb ]

The rich man's son inherits cares;
The bank may break, the factory burn,
A breath may burst his bubble shares,
And soft, white hands could hardly earn
A living that would serve his turn. [ Lowell ]

How many fond fools serve mad jealousy! [ William Shakespeare ]

They also serve who only stand and wait. [ Milton ]

Choose you this day whom ye shall serve. [ Bible ]

One sound blow will serve to undo us all. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

Great wits to madness nearly are allied;
Both serve to make our poverty our pride. [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

He that is a master must serve (another). [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

No gale can equally serve all passengers. [ Proverb ]

Things may serve long, but not serve ever. [ William Shakespeare ]

All things that we ordained festival,
Turn from their office to black funeral;
Our instruments, to melancholy bells;
Our wedding cheer, to sad burial feast;
Our solemn hymns, to sullen dirges change:
Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse,
And all things change them to the contrary. [ William Shakespeare ]

Riches serve a wise man, but command a fool. [ Proverb ]

Riches either serve or govern the possessor. [ Horace ]

A small sum may serve for a small reckoning. [ Proverb ]

They serve God well who serve His creatures. [ Mrs. Norton ]

A thousand years scarce serve to form a state;
An hour may lay it in the dust. [ Byron ]

To serve thy generation, this thy fate:
Written in- water, swiftly fades thy name;
But he who loves his kind does, first and late,
A work too great for fame. [ Mary Clemmer ]

A shrew profitable, may serve a man reasonable. [ Proverb ]

A brave soul is a thing which all things serve. [ Alex. Smith ]

To go through fire and water to serve a friend. [ Proverb ]

Knavery may serve a turn, but honesty never fails. [ Proverb ]

A good shift may serve long but cannot serve forever. [ Proverb ]

Serve a great lord, and you will know what sorrow is. [ Spanish Proverb ]

Thou canst not serve God, unless your mammon serve you. [ Proverb ]

Enemies may serve for witnesses as well as friends may. [ Proverb ]

To serve the people, is worse than to serve two masters. [ Proverb ]

The only way to know and to serve God, is to be like him. [ Proverb ]

Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. [ Bacon ]

To some kind of men their graces serve them but as enemies. [ William Shakespeare ]

Were embroidery is wanting, perhaps a patched coat may serve. [ Proverb ]

Neither praise nor dispraise thyself: thy actions serve the turn. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

Folly was condemned to serve as a guide to Love whom she had blinded. [ La Fontaine ]

'Tis the fine souls who serve us, and not what is called fine society. [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

An ounce of cheerfulness is worth a pound of sadness to serve God with. [ Fuller ]

A man who stole the livery of the court of heaven to serve the devil in. [ Pollok ]

Reason if we do not live by it, will serve to increase our shame and guilt. [ Proverb ]

Serve a noble disposition, though poor, the time comes that he will repay thee. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

Can any thing be so elegant as to have few wants, and to serve them one's self? [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all and love but one. [ Balzac ]

When wealthy, show thy wisdom not to be to wealth a servant, but make wealth serve thee. [ Sir J. Denham ]

Passions are like storms which, full of present mischief, serve to purify the atmosphere. [ Ramsay ]

Whosoever entertains you with the faults of others, deserves to serve you in the same kind. [ Proverb ]

A kinsman, a friend, or whom you entreat, take not to serve you, if you will be served neatly. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

Fond fool! six feet shall serve for all thy store, and he that cares for most shall find no more. [ Bishop Hall ]

Let Harlequin be taken with a fit of the colic, and his trappings will have to serve that mood too. [ Thoreau ]

At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction, that a nation exists to serve its citizens. [ President Donald J. Trump, Presidential Inaugeration Speech, Jan 20, 2017 ]

Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle. [ Lowell ]

The premeditation of death is the premeditation of liberty; he who has learnt to die has forgot to serve. [ Montaigne ]

We cannot all serve our country in the same way, but each may do his best, according as God has endowed him. [ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ]

We want but two or three friends, but these we cannot do without, and they serve us in every thought we think. [ Emerson ]

To wait for what never comes, to lie abed and not sleep, to serve and not be advanced, are three things to die of. [ Italian Proverb ]

We wish others to possess, or to acquire, all the qualities and virtues that can serve our pleasures or interests. [ De Finod ]

To no man, whatever his station in life, or his power to serve me, have I ever paid a compliment at the expense of truth. [ Burns ]

Dead is she? No; rather let us call ourselves dead, who tire so soon in the service of the Master whom she has gone to serve forever. [ W. S. Smart ]

A weapon is anything that can serve to wound; and sentiments are perhaps the most cruel weapons man can employ to wound his fellow man. [ Balzac ]

The use of great men is to serve the little men, to take care of the human race, and act as practical interpreters of justice and truth. [ Theodore Parker ]

Steal! to be sure they may, and, egad, serve your best thoughts as gypsies do stolen children, - disfigure them to make them pass for their own. [ Sheridan ]

It may serve as a comfort to us in all our calamities and afflictions that he that loses anything and gets wisdom by it is a gainer by the loss. [ L'Estrange ]

The most accomplished way of using books at present is to serve them as some do lords, learn their titles, and then boast of their acquaintance. [ Swift ]

When a man has once forfeited the reputation of his integrity, he is set fast; and nothing will then serve his turn, neither truth nor falsehood. [ Tillotson ]

This span of life was lent for lofty duties, not for selfishness; not to be wiled away for aimless dreams, but to improve ourselves, and serve mankind. [ Sir Aubrey de Vere ]

Genius, without religion, is only a lamp on the outer gate of a palace. It may serve to cast a gleam of light on those that are without while the inhabitant sits in. darkness. [ Hannah More ]

The joys of heaven are not the joys of passive contemplation, of dreamy remembrance, of perfect repose; but they are described thus: They rest not day nor night. His servants serve Him, and see His face. [ Alexander Maclaren ]

It is well known that a loose and easy dress contributes much to give to both sexes those fine proportions of body that are observable in the Grecian statues, and which serve as models to our present artists. [ Rousseau ]

Do not fear to put novels into the hands of young people as an occasional holiday experiment, but above all, good poetry in all kinds, - epic, tragedy, lyric. If we can touch the imagination, we serve them; they will never forget it. [ Emerson ]

The first wealth is health. Sickness is poor-spirited, and cannot serve any one; it must husband its resources to live. But health or fullness answers its own ends, and has to spare, runs over, and inundates the neighborhoods and creeks of other men's necessities. [ Emerson ]

So near are the boundaries of panegyric and invective, that a worn-out sinner is sometimes found to make the best declaimer against sin. The same high-seasoned descriptions which in his unregenerate state served to inflame his appetites, in his new province of a moralist will serve him (a little turned) to expose the enormity of those appetites in other men. [ Lamb ]

By conversing with the mighty dead, we imbibe sentiment with knowledge. We become strongly attached to those who can no longer either hurt or serve us, except through the influence which they exert over the mind. We feel the presence of that power which gives immortality to human thoughts and actions, and catch the flame of enthusiasm from all nations and ages. [ Hazlitt ]

Take the title of nobility which thou hast received by birth, but endeavor to add to it another, that both may form a true nobility. There is between the nobility of thy father and thine own the same difference which exists between the nourishment of the evening and of the morrow. The food of yesterday will not serve three for today, and will not give thee strength for the next. [ Jamakchari ]

Enthusiasm is a virtue rarely to be met with in seasons of calm and unruffled prosperity. Enthusiasn: Nourishes in adversity, kindles in the hour of danger, and awakens to deeds of renown. The terrors of persecution only serve to quicken the energy of its purposes. It swells in proud integrity, and, great in the purity of its cause, it can scatter defiance amidst hosts of enemies. [ Dr. Chalmers ]

It deserves to be considered that boldness is ever blind, for it sees not dangers and inconveniences. Whence it is bad in council though good in execution. The right use of bold persons, therefore, is that they never command in chief, but serve as seconds, under the direction of others. For in council it is good to see dangers, and in execution not to see them unless they are very great. [ Bacon ]

serve in Scrabble®

The word serve is playable in Scrabble®, no blanks required.

Scrabble® Letter Score: 8

Highest Scoring Scrabble® Plays In The Letters serve:

VERSE
(36)
SERVE
(36)
VEERS
(36)
 

All Scrabble® Plays For The Word serve

SERVE
(36)
SERVE
(27)
SERVE
(27)
SERVE
(27)
SERVE
(24)
SERVE
(24)
SERVE
(24)
SERVE
(20)
SERVE
(20)
SERVE
(18)
SERVE
(18)
SERVE
(18)
SERVE
(18)
SERVE
(16)
SERVE
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SERVE
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SERVE
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SERVE
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SERVE
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SERVE
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SERVE
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SERVE
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SERVE
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SERVE
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SERVE
(10)
SERVE
(10)
SERVE
(10)
SERVE
(9)
SERVE
(9)
SERVE
(8)

The 200 Highest Scoring Scrabble® Plays For Words Using The Letters In serve

VERSE
(36)
SERVE
(36)
VEERS
(36)
VEER
(33)
VEES
(33)
VEERS
(32)
VERSE
(32)
VEERS
(27)
VEERS
(27)
VERSE
(27)
VEERS
(27)
SEVER
(27)
SEVER
(27)
SERVE
(27)
SERVE
(27)
SEVER
(27)
SERVE
(27)
VERSE
(27)
SEVER
(27)
VERSE
(27)
VEERS
(24)
VEER
(24)
VEES
(24)
EVES
(24)
VERSE
(24)
REVS
(24)
VERSE
(24)
REVS
(24)
VEERS
(24)
VEERS
(24)
VERSE
(24)
EVES
(24)
VEERS
(24)
EVER
(24)
VEERS
(24)
VERSE
(24)
SEVER
(24)
VERSE
(24)
EVER
(24)
SEVER
(24)
SERVE
(24)
SERVE
(24)
SERVE
(24)
SEVER
(24)
VEER
(22)
VEES
(22)
VEES
(21)
VEES
(21)
VEER
(21)
VEES
(21)
VEES
(21)
REVS
(21)
REVS
(21)
VEER
(21)
VEER
(21)
VEER
(21)
REVS
(21)
EVER
(21)
EVES
(21)
EVES
(21)
EVER
(21)
EVER
(21)
EVER
(21)
EVES
(21)
EVES
(21)
REVS
(21)
SERVE
(20)
VERSE
(20)
VEERS
(20)
SEVER
(20)
SEVER
(20)
SERVE
(20)
VEERS
(18)
SERVE
(18)
VERSE
(18)
SEVER
(18)
EVE
(18)
SEVER
(18)
SERVE
(18)
VERSE
(18)
SERVE
(18)
VERSE
(18)
REV
(18)
VEE
(18)
EVE
(18)
VEE
(18)
REV
(18)
VEE
(18)
VEERS
(18)
EVE
(18)
REV
(18)
SEVER
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SEVER
(18)
VEERS
(18)
SERVE
(18)
SERVE
(16)
VERSE
(16)
VEERS
(16)
VEERS
(16)
VEES
(16)
VERSE
(16)
VEERS
(16)
VEERS
(16)
EVER
(16)
EVES
(16)
SERVE
(16)
EVER
(16)
SERVE
(16)
SEVER
(16)
VERSE
(16)
SERVE
(16)
VEER
(16)
SERVE
(16)
SERVE
(16)
REVS
(16)
SEVER
(16)
REVS
(16)
SEVER
(16)
SEVER
(16)
SEVER
(16)
VERSE
(16)
SEVER
(16)
EVES
(16)
VEERS
(16)
VERSE
(16)
SERE
(15)
VEES
(15)
SERE
(15)
SEER
(15)
SEER
(15)
VEER
(15)
EVES
(15)
REVS
(15)
EVER
(15)
VEER
(14)
EVER
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REV
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EVER
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REVS
(14)
EVES
(14)
VEES
(14)
EVER
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VEE
(14)
EVE
(14)
REVS
(14)
EVES
(14)
VEER
(14)
EVER
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EVES
(14)
VEER
(14)
VEER
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VEES
(14)
REVS
(14)
VEES
(14)
EVES
(14)
REVS
(14)
VEES
(14)
VEERS
(13)
VERSE
(13)
VEERS
(13)
SEVER
(13)
SEVER
(13)
SERVE
(13)
VERSE
(13)
EVER
(12)
EVE
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SEVER
(12)
SERVE
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SEVER
(12)
VEER
(12)
SERVE
(12)
SEER
(12)
VEES
(12)
REV
(12)
REV
(12)
REV
(12)
EVES
(12)
REVS
(12)
EVE
(12)
SERE
(12)
SEER
(12)
SEER
(12)
VEE
(12)
VEE
(12)
SEER
(12)
EVE
(12)
SERE
(12)
VEE
(12)
SERE
(12)
SERE
(12)
REVS
(11)
EVES
(11)
VEE
(11)
VEER
(11)
REV
(11)
EVER
(11)
VEES
(11)
VERSE
(10)
VEE
(10)
VERSE
(10)

serve in Words With Friends™

The word serve is playable in Words With Friends™, no blanks required.

Words With Friends™ Letter Score: 9

Highest Scoring Words With Friends™ Plays In The Letters serve:

SERVE
(57)
VEERS
(57)
VERSE
(57)
 

All Words With Friends™ Plays For The Word serve

SERVE
(57)
SERVE
(36)
SERVE
(33)
SERVE
(33)
SERVE
(33)
SERVE
(28)
SERVE
(27)
SERVE
(27)
SERVE
(27)
SERVE
(22)
SERVE
(22)
SERVE
(21)
SERVE
(20)
SERVE
(20)
SERVE
(20)
SERVE
(19)
SERVE
(18)
SERVE
(18)
SERVE
(18)
SERVE
(18)
SERVE
(18)
SERVE
(15)
SERVE
(15)
SERVE
(14)
SERVE
(13)
SERVE
(13)
SERVE
(13)
SERVE
(12)
SERVE
(12)
SERVE
(11)
SERVE
(11)
SERVE
(11)
SERVE
(11)
SERVE
(11)
SERVE
(11)
SERVE
(10)
SERVE
(10)
SERVE
(10)
SERVE
(10)
SERVE
(9)

The 200 Highest Scoring Words With Friends™ Plays Using The Letters In serve

SERVE
(57)
VEERS
(57)
VERSE
(57)
VEES
(54)
VEER
(54)
VERSE
(38)
VEERS
(38)
VEERS
(36)
SEVER
(36)
SERVE
(36)
VERSE
(36)
SERVE
(33)
SERVE
(33)
VEERS
(33)
VEERS
(33)
SERVE
(33)
VERSE
(33)
VERSE
(33)
SEVER
(33)
VEERS
(33)
SEVER
(33)
VERSE
(33)
SEVER
(33)
SEVER
(33)
EVES
(30)
REVS
(30)
EVER
(30)
REVS
(30)
EVER
(30)
EVES
(30)
VEER
(30)
VEES
(30)
VEERS
(28)
SERVE
(28)
VERSE
(28)
VEERS
(27)
SEVER
(27)
SEVER
(27)
VERSE
(27)
SERVE
(27)
VEERS
(27)
SEVER
(27)
VERSE
(27)
VEERS
(27)
SERVE
(27)
VERSE
(27)
SERVE
(27)
VEER
(26)
VEES
(26)
VEER
(24)
EVER
(24)
EVES
(24)
VEES
(24)
REVS
(24)
REVS
(24)
VEER
(24)
VEES
(24)
VEER
(24)
VEES
(24)
EVES
(24)
EVES
(24)
EVER
(24)
EVER
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REVS
(24)
EVES
(24)
VEES
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VEER
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REVS
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EVER
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SEVER
(22)
SEVER
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VEERS
(22)
VERSE
(22)
SERVE
(22)
SERVE
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SEVER
(21)
REV
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EVE
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REV
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VERSE
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VERSE
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REV
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VEERS
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SERVE
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EVE
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SEVER
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VEERS
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VEE
(21)
VEE
(21)
EVE
(21)
VEE
(21)
VERSE
(20)
SERVE
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VERSE
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SERVE
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SEVER
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VERSE
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SEVER
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SEVER
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SEVER
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VERSE
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VEER
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VEERS
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VEERS
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VEERS
(20)
VEES
(20)
VEERS
(20)
REVS
(20)
SERVE
(20)
EVES
(20)
EVER
(20)
VEE
(19)
SEVER
(19)
SERVE
(19)
REV
(19)
VEERS
(18)
VEERS
(18)
EVES
(18)
VEERS
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VERSE
(18)
VEERS
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VEER
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SEVER
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VERSE
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VEES
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EVER
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SEER
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VERSE
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SERE
(18)
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VERSE
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REVS
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SERE
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SEVER
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SEER
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EVE
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REV
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VEE
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REVS
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VEES
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EVER
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VEER
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REVS
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REVS
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VEER
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VEERS
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SEVER
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SERVE
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VERSE
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VERSE
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VERSE
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EVES
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EVER
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Word Growth involving serve

Shorter words in serve

(No shorter words found)

Longer words containing serve

conserve conserved

deserve deserved deservedly undeservedly

deserve deserved deservedness

deserve deserved misdeserved

deserve deserved undeserved undeservedly

deserve deserved welldeserved

deserve deserver deservers undeservers

deserve deserver undeserver undeservers

deserve deserves misdeserves

deserve misdeserve misdeserved

deserve misdeserve misdeserves

observe misobserve misobserved

observe misobserve misobserves

observe observed misobserved

observe observed nonobserved

observe observed reobserved preobserved

observe observed unobserved

observe observer observers

observe observes misobserves

observe observes reobserves preobserves

observe reobserve preobserve preobserved

observe reobserve preobserve preobserves

observe reobserve reobserved preobserved

observe reobserve reobserves preobserves

outserve outserved

outserve outserves

overserve overserved

overserve overserves

reserve nonreserve

reserve preserve cryopreserve cryopreserved

reserve preserve cryopreserve cryopreserves

reserve preserve preserved cryopreserved

reserve preserve preserved selfpreserved

reserve preserve preserved unpreserved

reserve preserve preserved wellpreserved

reserve preserve preserver preservers

reserve preserve preserves cryopreserves

reserve preserve preserves selfpreserves

reserve preserve selfpreserve selfpreserved

reserve preserve selfpreserve selfpreserves

reserve reserved preserved cryopreserved

reserve reserved preserved selfpreserved

reserve reserved preserved unpreserved

reserve reserved preserved wellpreserved

reserve reserved reservedly unreservedly

reserve reserved reservedness

reserve reserved selfreserved

reserve reserved unreserved unreservedly

reserve reserves preserves cryopreserves

reserve reserves preserves selfpreserves

reserve reserves selfreserves

reserve selfreserve selfreserved

reserve selfreserve selfreserves

reserve unreserve unreserved unreservedly

served conserved

served deserved deservedly undeservedly

served deserved deservedness

served deserved misdeserved

served deserved undeserved undeservedly

served deserved welldeserved

served firstserved

served observed misobserved

served observed nonobserved

served observed reobserved preobserved

served observed unobserved

served outserved

served overserved

served reserved preserved cryopreserved

served reserved preserved selfpreserved

served reserved preserved unpreserved

served reserved preserved wellpreserved

served reserved reservedly unreservedly

served reserved reservedness

served reserved selfreserved

served reserved unreserved unreservedly

served subserved

served underserved

served unserved

server deserver deservers undeservers

server deserver undeserver undeservers

server fileserver fileservers

server mailserver mailservers

server multiserver multiservers

server netserver netservers

server observer observers

server preserver preservers

server servers deservers undeservers

server servers fileservers

server servers mailservers

server servers multiservers

server servers netservers

server servers observers

server servers preservers

server servers timeservers

server timeserver timeservers

serves deserves misdeserves

serves observes misobserves

serves observes reobserves preobserves

serves outserves

serves overserves

serves reserves preserves cryopreserves

serves reserves preserves selfpreserves

serves reserves selfreserves

serves subserves

serves underserves

subserve subserved

subserve subserves

underserve underserved

underserve underserves