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Glite Dictionary
curb service

curb service

3.9
Service where staff bring food to customers waiting in their cars at the curb
  • noun
  • /kɜrb ˈsɜrvɪs/
  • US
translation icon : servicio en la acera
  • Many fast-food restaurants offer curb service so customers can order from their vehicles.

Examples

  • Try taking Minnie's maid Cleopatra to the Stork Club, you'd get curb service.

    Radio Days (1987)

  • - They don't have curb service here, you know?

    Russian Roulette (1975)

  • At the diner, we enjoyed great curb service while waiting in our car.

  • Because of its convenient curb service, the restaurant became popular with families on the go.

Synonyms

curbside
vscurb service
  • US
3 3.5

A service where staff bring a customer's order to their car at the road edge

involves taking and delivering orders to customers who remain in their cars

How Convenient

delivery
540 1.0
drive-thru
  • US
23 2.5
curb service
  • US
3.9
store
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

curb service singular
curb services plural

Morphology

curb + service

The meaning 'service provided to customers at the curb/curbside' is directly and transparently derivable from 'curb' (the edge of the sidewalk/road) plus 'service' (assistance or provision). This compositional pattern (location + service) is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Curb service comes from drive-in restaurants where servers walked out to the curb, the street edge, and handed food to people sitting in their cars. So it means a shop or restaurant giving a service to customers who 'stay in their cars'.