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a & n. from Serve. Serving board (Naut.), a flat piece of wood used in serving ropes. -- Serving maid, a female servant; a maidservant. -- Serving mallet (Naut.), a wooden instrument shaped like a mallet, used in serving ropes. -- Serving man, a male servant, or attendant; a manservant. -- Serving stuff (Naut.), sm…

Desert; merit. A person of great deservings from the republic. Swift.

Giving particular attention; habitually attentive to what passes; as, an observing person; an observing mind. -- Ob*serv"ing*ly, adv.

Obsequiously complying with the spirit of the times, or the humors of those in power.

Serving or tending to abbreviate; shortening; abridging.

A place for hiding or preserving articles of value. Cowell.

Serving to absolve; absolving. "An absolutory sentence." Ayliffe.

Serving to cleanse, detergent.

Containing abuse, or serving as the instrument of abuse; vituperative; reproachful; scurrilous. "An abusive lampoon." Johnson.

A mark or character used in writing, and serving to regulate the pronunciation; esp.: (a) a mark to indicate the nature and place of the spoken accent; (b) a mark to indicate the quality of sound of the vowel marked; as, the French accents.

Characterized by accumulation; serving to collect or amass; cumulative; additional. -- Ac*cu"mu*la*tive*ly, adv. -- Ac*cu"mu*la*tive*ness, n.

A small plane or surface, usually capable of adjustment but not of manipulation, for preserving lateral balance in an aëroplane or flying machine.

Serving to help or assist; helping. [Obs.]

Having qualities to excite wonder united with approbation; deserving the highest praise; most excellent; -- used of persons or things. "An admirable machine." "Admirable fortitude." Macaulay.

Deserving to be adored; worthy of divine honors. The adorable Author of Christianity. Cheyne.

Serving to drive off fever; antifebrile. -- n.

An animal whose toes are connected by a membrane, serving for a wing, as the bat.

A membranous appendage of the embryos of mammals, birds, and reptiles, -- in mammals serving to connect the fetus with the parent; the urinary vesicle.

A recently invented instrument for observing the heavenly bodies as they cross a given almacantar circle. See Almucantar.

Serving to amplify or enlarge; amplificative. Morell.