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serving

serving

104 1.0
An amount of food or drink for one person at a meal
  • noun
  • /ˈsɜrvɪŋ/
translation icon : ración
  • Mother poured a steaming pot of spaghetti into a serving dish and set it on the table.
  • serving size
  • calories per serving
  • servings per day

Let's go with one serving of French onion dip.

Examples

  • The World Health Organization recommends we eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Actually, it's quite a large serving.

    Kindergarten Cop (1990)

  • Your serving will be here in just a minute.

    Second Coming (2009)

  • I had an extra serving.

    The Gateway (2018)

  • I paid the man for one serving.

    Malibu High (1979)

  • Let's go with one serving of French onion dip.

    Good Mythical Morning

  • Just one serving of deli meats daily increases your risks of colorectal cancer by 18%.

    What the Health (2017)

  • Across the nation, salad bar lunches consistently offer nearly twice the servings of fruits and vegetables that hot lunches provide.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Six T-bones, five baked potatoes and two servings of creamed spinach.

    The Nutty Professor (1996)

  • I ordered a large serving of spaghetti for dinner.

Synonyms

dish
vsserving
82 1.0

An amount of food served to one person

focuses on the amount given to one person rather than the container or recipe
portion
vsserving
61 1.3

An amount of food or drink served to one person

has the same meaning but often highlights the size of that amount
plate
vsserving
57 1.0

A main meal served on one dish

denotes the amount for one person rather than a whole course presentation
a bite of
vsserving
25 1.0

A small piece of food taken from a larger serving

means the whole amount given to one person rather than a tiny piece
helping
vsserving
5 1.0

An amount of food or drink served to one person at a meal

has the same meaning but is the more formal option

Compounds

serving dish
3 1.0

A dish used to hold food for people to share at the table

serving girl
  • Archaic
1 5.1

A girl or young woman who works in a home doing chores

serving cart
  • US
2.8

A small table with wheels for carrying and serving food and drinks

How Much

plateful
2 2.3
serving
104 1.0
helping
5 1.0
mouthful
59 1.6
bite
302 1.0

Surface Forms

serving singular
servings plural

Morphology

serving = serve (transparent) = serve + ing

Standard nominalization of 'serve' yielding a count noun for an amount given to be served; the portion meaning is a straightforward extension of 'to serve (food)'.

Etymology

Serving comes from the Latin servire 'to serve' and shares its root with the common verb serve. A food 'serving' is the amount of food 'given' to one person, so the word keeps the idea of being handed or offered to someone at a meal.