Avail vs Serve - What's the difference?
avail | serve |
(transitive, often, reflexive) To turn to the advantage of.
To be of service to.
To promote; to assist.
To be of use or advantage; to answer or serve the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object.
* Sir Walter Scott
To provide; to make available.
* {{quote-news, 2004, November 16, Nik Ogbulie, Decongesting the Banking Floors, This Day
, passage=With this initiative, Valucard becomes an open system that is not limited to point of sale (POS) transactions, but now avails cash to its holders in various locations nationwide.}}
(lb) Benefit; value, profit; advantage toward success.
*:
*:I shal take the aduenture sayd Balen that god wille ordeyne me / but the swerd ye shalle not haue at this tyme by the feythe of my body / ye shalle repente hit within short tyme sayd the damoysel/ For I wold haue the swerd more for your auaylle than for myne / for I am passyng heuy for your sake
*, III.1:
*:hardy Citizenssticke not to sacrifice their honours and consciences, as those of old, their lives, for their Countries availe and safety.
*{{quote-book, 1895, (Andrew Lang),
, passage=So this friar, unworthy as he was of his holy calling, had me at an avail on every side, nor do I yet see what I could do but obey him, as I did.}}
Effect in achieving a goal or aim; purpose, use (now usually in negative constructions).
:
*
*:Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.
*2014 , , "
*:At half-time, Poyet replaced Wes Brown with Liam Bridcutt in the heart of defence and sent out the rest of the players to atone for their first-half mistakes. To no avail .
*(Richard Henry Stoddard) (1825–1903)
*:the avails of their own industry
Effort; striving.
*{{quote-book, 1613, (Thomas Campion), chapter=Songs of Mourning, , year_published=1907, page=125, title=
, passage=And ev'n now, though he breathless lies, his sails / Are struggling with the winds, for our avails / T'explore a passage hid from human tract, / Will fame him in the enterprise or fact.}}
An advertising slot or package.
*{{quote-book, 1994, Barry L. Sherman, page=353, title=
, passage=The salesperson at an affiliate TV station might prepare an avail which offers two weeks of spots in early and late news
*{{quote-book, 2004, Walter S. Ciciora et al., page=123, title=
, passage=At an avail , the ad server plays out the MPEG-2 audio/video elementary streams.}}
A press avail.
:
Non-binding notice of availability for work.
(lb) A readily available stock of oil.
*{{quote-book, 1967, title=
, passage=Total crude oil avails (production plus purchases) of even highly "self-sufficient" refiners are far greater than their reported refinery inputs.}}
(sports) An act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play in various games.
* 1961 January 13, Marshall Smith, From Waif to a Winner, the Clown of the Courts'', '' ,
* 1996 , Steve Boga, Badminton ,
* 2009 , Mihnea Moldoveanu, Roger L. Martin, Diaminds: Decoding the Mental Habits of Successful Thinkers ,
(chiefly, Australia) A portion of food or drink, a serving.
* 2004 , Susanna Holt, Fitness Food: The Essential Guide to Eating Well and Performing Better , Murdoch Books Australia,
* 2007 , Verity Campbell, Turkey , Lonely Planet,
* 2008 , Michael E. Cichorski, Maximum Asthma Control: The Revolutionary 3-Step Anti Asthma Program ,
* 2011 , Great Britain Parliament House of Commons Health Committee, Alcohol: First Report of Session 2009-10 , Volume 2,
* 2012 , Lesley Campbell, Alan L. Rubin, Type 2 Diabetes For Dummies , Australian Edition,
To provide a service.
#(lb) To be a formal servant for (a god or deity); to worship in an official capacity.
#*1889 , (Philip Schaff), translating , XIV:
#*:And yet this is not the office of a Priest, but of Him whom the Priest should serve .
#(lb) To be a servant for; to work for, to be employed by.
#*1716 , (Joseph Addison),
#*:And, truly, Mrs Abigail, I must needs say, I served' my master contentedly while he was living, but I will ' serve no man living (that is, no man that is not living) without double wages.
#*{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
, passage=
#*1979 , (Bob Dylan), (Gotta Serve Somebody) :
#*:You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief, / They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief / But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
#(lb) To wait upon (someone) at table; to set food and drink in front of, to help (someone) to food, meals etc.
#*2007 , Larry McMurty, When the Light Goes
#*:That night Annie served him grilled halibut and English peas, plus tomatoes, of course, and a salad.
#(lb) To be a servant or worker; to perform the duties of a servant or employee; to render service.
#*1673 , (John Milton), (On His Blindness) :
#*:They also serve who only stand and wait.
#(lb) To set down (food or drink) on the table to be eaten; to bring (food, drink) to a person.
#*2009 , Dominic A Pacyga, Chicago: A Biography , p.195:
#*:About twenty minutes after waiters served the soup, a guest got up and left.
*1924 ,
*:I mock them all who have served me ill of late and chiefly this cheat of Judah, whose temple we have plundered and whose golden vessels are my wash-pots.
*, III.7:
*:That gentle Lady, whom I loue and serue .
(lb) To be effective.
#(lb) To be useful to; to meet the needs of.
#*2010 October 12, Lloyd Marcus, (The Guardian)
#*:So, while the sycophantic liberal media calls any and all opposition to Obama racist, they give Obama carte blanche to exploit his race whenever it serves his purpose.
#(lb) To have a given use or purpose; to function (for) something or to do something.
#*2011 January 27, "Borgata bust", (The Economist)
#*:The bust also served to remind the public that the Mafia is not harmless.
#*{{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
, author=, volume=100, issue=2, page=171
, magazine=(American Scientist)
, title= #(lb) To usefully take the place (as), (instead) of something else.
#*
#*:Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out.. Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft.
#*2010 April 20, "Not up in the air", (The Economist)
#*:Maybe the volcanic eruption will serve as a wake-up call to such companies that they need to modernise their risk management.
To deliver a document.
#To officially deliver (a legal notice, summons etc.).
#*2008 April, Pamela Colloff, The Fire That Time , Texas Monthly; Austin: Emmis Publishing, p.158:
#*:On the morning of February 28, 1993, ATF agents gathered at a staging area near Waco and prepared to serve a search warrant on the Branch Davidians' residence.
#To make legal service upon (a person named in a writ, summons, etc.)
#:
*2007 , Rob Antoun, Women's Tennis Tactics , p.2:
*:In women's tennis the need to serve more effectively has become greater in recent years because the game is being played more aggressively, and rallies are becoming shorter as a result.
(lb) To copulate with (of male animals); to .
*1996 , Puck Bonnier et al., Dairy Cattle Husbandry , Agromisa Foundation 2004
*:Conception means that a cow is served by a bull and that she becomes pregnant.
(lb) To be in military service.
*2007 May 16, Peter Walker, (The Guardian)
*:Some reports suggested he would quit the army if he was not allowed to serve abroad in a war zone.
*1864 , (Horace Greeley),
*:John T. Greble, of the 2d regular artillery, was likewise killed instantly by a ball through the head, while serving his gun in the face of the foe.
(lb) To work through (a given period of time in prison, a sentence).
*2010 December 1, Tania Branigan, (The Guardian)
*:The Guangzhou Daily reported that Shi Chunlong, 20, who organised the incident, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Hou Bin, who pulled out of the attack after helping to plan it, will serve 12 years.
(lb) To wind spun yarn etc. tightly around (a rope or cable, etc.) so as to protect it from chafing or from the weather.
In transitive terms the difference between avail and serve
is that avail is to promote; to assist while serve is to work through (a given period of time in prison, a sentence).In intransitive terms the difference between avail and serve
is that avail is to be of use or advantage; to answer or serve the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object while serve is to be in military service.As verbs the difference between avail and serve
is that avail is to turn to the advantage of while serve is To provide a service.As nouns the difference between avail and serve
is that avail is benefit; value, profit; advantage toward success while serve is an act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play in various games.avail
English
Verb
(en verb)- I availed myself of the opportunity.
- Artifices will not avail the sinner in the day of judgment.
- (Alexander Pope)
- The plea in court must avail .
- ''This scheme will not avail.
- Medicines will not avail to halt the disease.
- Words avail very little with me, young man.
citation
Antonyms
* disavailDerived terms
* available * disavailNoun
(en noun)A Monk of Fife
Southampton hammer eight past hapless Sunderland in barmy encounter", The Guardian , 18 October:
Poetical Works (in English) of Thomas Campion
Telecommunications Management: Broadcasting/cable and the New Technologies, isbn=0070566984
Modern Cable Television Technology: Video, Voice, and Data Communications, isbn=1558608281
Interstate Compact on Oil and Gas (10th Extension), page=95
Usage notes
* (success or benefit) Very often encountered in negative phrases, such as of' or '''to''' '''no''' or '''little''' ' avail .serve
English
(wikipedia serve)Noun
(en noun)- Whose serve is it?
page 99,
- He had no power serve of his own, no backhand, no volley, no lob, no idea of pace or tactics.
page viii,
- The first serve of the game is from the right half court to the half diagonally opposite.
page 31,
- Against a serve of the calibre of McEnroe?s, an opponent will try to anticipate the ball?s direction and lean either to the left or to the right, depending on where he feels the server will go.
page 23,
- The night before your event, base your evening meal on high-carbohydrate foods with a small serve of lean protein.
page 142,
- Come here for a cappuccino that could hold its own on Via Veneto in Rome (€2) and a serve of their crunchy fresh cheese börek .
page 100,
- Reintroduce protein; add a small serve of salmon, tuna or sardines every second day (tinned variety or fresh).
page 189,
- Smirnoff Appleback was a finished drink, comprising a 50ml serve of Smirnoff, with ice and lemonade or ginger ale and equating to 1.9 units.
page 117,
- One serve of carbohydrates is approximately equal to a slice of bread, a piece of fruit, third of a cup of cooked rice, half a cup of grains, cereals, starchy vegetables or cooked pasta, 200 grams of plain yoghurt, or 300 millilitres of milk.
Synonyms
* (act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play) service * (portion of food) See servingAntonyms
* receiveVerb
(serv)Well-connected Brains, passage=Creating a complete map of the human connectome would therefore be a monumental milestone but not the end of the journey to understanding how our brains work. The achievement will transform neuroscience and serve as the starting point for asking questions we could not otherwise have answered,
The American Conflict
