self-service
- noun
- /ˈsɛlfˈsɜrvɪs/
- Their self-service model was reinvigorated recently, with a renewed push toward automation for check-outs and returns.
- self-service stations
- self-service pump
- self-service kiosk
Examples
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In the new supermarket, customers can enjoy a self-service checkout that speeds up the shopping experience.
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Since we're a self-service station, we'll be getting rid of a few people around here.
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We're officially a self-service station.
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He'd like some nice eating places with self-service along the way.
Fiction book (1992) -
When our customers choose these time-saving, self-service options, our costs go down, and we can pass those savings along to our customers.
Blog text (3) -
Those users who are reluctant to ask a librarian for assistance may appreciate the self-service approach to getting a book recommendation.
Academic text (2012) -
The welcoming, comfortable environment offers three self-service eating outlets, a shop, a large-screen TV area, electronic games, and two bars.
Academic text (2008) -
The town has history, a university, a little industry, and a self-service restaurant in which you can get a steak with an egg on it, potatoes, a salad, a good hard roll, a bottle of beer, some pudding, and a cup of coffee for about sixty-five cents, if you are thinking in dollars.
Fiction book (1991) -
The day dawned as the Greyhound stopped before a peeling white clapboard store that had two self-service gasoline pumps in front and an overhang porch with a bench where three old men sat.
Fiction book (1995) -
The library has introduced a self-service system that allows patrons to check out their own books.
Antonyms
A level where staff do many things for customers, like pumping gas or helping at a hotel
How Staffed
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Self-service comes from the parts self ('by yourself') and service ('help that someone gives'). It means a system or place where customers do the work themselves, like using a checkout or buffet, instead of being served by staff.