Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Service \Serv"ice\, n. [OE. servise, OF. servise, service, F.
   service, from L. servitium. See {Serve}.]
   1. The act of serving; the occupation of a servant; the
      performance of labor for the benefit of another, or at
      another's command; attendance of an inferior, hired
      helper, slave, etc., on a superior, employer, master, or
      the like; also, spiritual obedience and love. ``O God . .
      . whose service is perfect freedom.'' --Bk. of Com.
      Prayer.

            Madam, I entreat true peace of you, Which I will
            purchase with my duteous service.     --Shak.

            God requires no man's service upon hard and
            unreasonable terms.                   --Tillotson.

   2. The deed of one who serves; labor performed for another;
      duty done or required; office.

            I have served him from the hour of my nativity, . .
            . and have nothing at his hands for my service but
            blows.                                --Shak.

            This poem was the last piece of service I did for my
            master, King Charles.                 --Dryden.

            To go on the forlorn hope is a service of peril; who
            will understake it if it be not also a service of
            honor?                                --Macaulay.

   3. Office of devotion; official religious duty performed;
      religious rites appropriate to any event or ceremonial;
      as, a burial service.

            The outward service of ancient religion, the rites,
            ceremonies, and ceremonial vestments of the old law.
                                                  --Coleridge.

   4. Hence, a musical composition for use in churches.

   5. Duty performed in, or appropriate to, any office or
      charge; official function; hence, specifically, military
      or naval duty; performance of the duties of a soldier.

            When he cometh to experience of service abroad . . .
            ne maketh a worthy soldier.           --Spenser.

   6. Useful office; advantage conferred; that which promotes
      interest or happiness; benefit; avail.

            The stork's plea, when taken in a net, was the
            service she did in picking up venomous creatures.
                                                  --L'Estrange.

   7. Profession of respect; acknowledgment of duty owed.
      ``Pray, do my service to his majesty.'' --Shak.

   8. The act and manner of bringing food to the persons who eat
      it; order of dishes at table; also, a set or number of
      vessels ordinarily used at table; as, the service was
      tardy and awkward; a service of plate or glass.

            There was no extraordinary service seen on the
            board.                                --Hakewill.

   9. (Law) The act of bringing to notice, either actually or
      constructively, in such manner as is prescribed by law;
      as, the service of a subp[oe]na or an attachment.

   10. (Naut.) The materials used for serving a rope, etc., as
       spun yarn, small lines, etc.

   11. (Tennis) The act of serving the ball.

   12. Act of serving or covering. See {Serve}, v. t., 13.

   {Service book}, a prayer book or missal.

   {Service line} (Tennis), a line parallel to the net, and at a
      distance of 21 feet from it.

   {Service of a writ}, {process}, etc. (Law), personal delivery
      or communication of the writ or process, etc., to the
      party to be affected by it, so as to subject him to its
      operation; the reading of it to the person to whom notice
      is intended to be given, or the leaving of an attested
      copy with the person or his attorney, or at his usual
      place of abode.

   {Service of an attachment} (Law), the seizing of the person
      or goods according to the direction.

   {Service of an execution} (Law), the levying of it upon the
      goods, estate, or person of the defendant.

   {Service pipe}, a pipe connecting mains with a dwelling, as
      in gas pipes, and the like. --Tomlinson.

   {To accept service}. (Law) See under {Accept}.

   {To see service} (Mil.), to do duty in the presence of the
      enemy, or in actual war.