What's the difference between return and serve?

Return


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To turn back; to go or come again to the same place or condition.
  • (v. i.) To come back, or begin again, after an interval, regular or irregular; to appear again.
  • (v. i.) To speak in answer; to reply; to respond.
  • (v. i.) To revert; to pass back into possession.
  • (v. i.) To go back in thought, narration, or argument.
  • (v. t.) To bring, carry, send, or turn, back; as, to return a borrowed book, or a hired horse.
  • (v. t.) To repay; as, to return borrowed money.
  • (v. t.) To give in requital or recompense; to requite.
  • (v. t.) To give back in reply; as, to return an answer; to return thanks.
  • (v. t.) To retort; to throw back; as, to return the lie.
  • (v. t.) To report, or bring back and make known.
  • (v. t.) To render, as an account, usually an official account, to a superior; to report officially by a list or statement; as, to return a list of stores, of killed or wounded; to return the result of an election.
  • (v. t.) Hence, to elect according to the official report of the election officers.
  • (v. t.) To bring or send back to a tribunal, or to an office, with a certificate of what has been done; as, to return a writ.
  • (v. t.) To convey into official custody, or to a general depository.
  • (v. t.) To bat (the ball) back over the net.
  • (v. t.) To lead in response to the lead of one's partner; as, to return a trump; to return a diamond for a club.
  • (n.) The act of returning (intransitive), or coming back to the same place or condition; as, the return of one long absent; the return of health; the return of the seasons, or of an anniversary.
  • (n.) The act of returning (transitive), or sending back to the same place or condition; restitution; repayment; requital; retribution; as, the return of anything borrowed, as a book or money; a good return in tennis.
  • (n.) That which is returned.
  • (n.) A payment; a remittance; a requital.
  • (n.) An answer; as, a return to one's question.
  • (n.) An account, or formal report, of an action performed, of a duty discharged, of facts or statistics, and the like; as, election returns; a return of the amount of goods produced or sold; especially, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics prepared for general information.
  • (n.) The profit on, or advantage received from, labor, or an investment, undertaking, adventure, etc.
  • (n.) The continuation in a different direction, most often at a right angle, of a building, face of a building, or any member, as a molding or mold; -- applied to the shorter in contradistinction to the longer; thus, a facade of sixty feet east and west has a return of twenty feet north and south.
  • (n.) The rendering back or delivery of writ, precept, or execution, to the proper officer or court.
  • (n.) The certificate of an officer stating what he has done in execution of a writ, precept, etc., indorsed on the document.
  • (n.) The sending back of a commission with the certificate of the commissioners.
  • (n.) A day in bank. See Return day, below.
  • (n.) An official account, report, or statement, rendered to the commander or other superior officer; as, the return of men fit for duty; the return of the number of the sick; the return of provisions, etc.
  • (n.) The turnings and windings of a trench or mine.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) If Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, who bought the island in 1738, were to return today he would doubtless recognise the scene, though he might be surprised that his small private buildings have grown into a sizable hotel.
  • (2) Until his return to Brazil in 1985, Niemeyer worked in Israel, France and north Africa, designing among other buildings the University of Haifa on Mount Carmel; the campus of Constantine University in Algeria (now known as Mentouri University); the offices of the French Communist party and their newspaper l'Humanité in Paris; and the ministry of external relations and the cathedral in Brasilia.
  • (3) Squadron Leader Kevin Harris, commander of the Merlins at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand, praised the crews, adding: "The Merlins will undergo an extensive programme of maintenance and cleaning before being packed up, ensuring they return to the UK in good order."
  • (4) Blood flow decreased immediately after skin expansion in areas over the tissue expander on days 0 and 1 and returned to baseline levels within 24 hours.
  • (5) Eighty-two per cent of patients with falciparum malaria had recently returned from Africa whereas 82% with vivax malaria had visited Asia.
  • (6) Other haematological parameters remained normal, with the exception of the absolute number of lymphocytes, which initially fell sharply but soon returned to, and even exceeded, control levels.
  • (7) Since the advance and return of sperm inside the tubes could facilitate the interaction of sperm with secretions participating in its maturation, the persistent infertility after vasectomy could be related to the contractile alteration that follows the excessive tubal distention.
  • (8) In documents due to be published by the bank, it will signal a need to shed costs from a business that employs 10,000 people as it scrambles to return to profit.
  • (9) Compared with conservative management, better long-term success (determined by return of athletic soundness and less evidence of degenerative joint disease) was achieved with surgical curettage of elbow subchondral cystic lesions.
  • (10) I can see you use humour as a defence mechanism, so in return I could just tell you that if he's massively rich or famous and you've decided you'll put up with it to please him, you'll eventually discover it's not worth it.
  • (11) Though the 54-year-old designer made brief returns to the limelight after his fall from grace, designing a one-off collection for Oscar de la Renta last year , his appointment at Margiela marks a more permanent comeback.
  • (12) In order for the club to grow and sustain its ability to be a competitive force in the Premier League, the board has made a number of decisions which will strengthen the club, support the executive team, manager and his staff and enhance shareholder return.
  • (13) Results indicate that energy had not returned to patients' satisfaction in 37% of the cases.
  • (14) By the time Van Kirk returned to the US in June 1943, he had flown 58 combat and eight transport missions.
  • (15) Mice also had a decreased ability to develop delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions while being given cadmium; this abnormality also returned toward normal after withdrawal of cadmium.
  • (16) Of the 138 patients who were admitted to the study, only seventy-one (51 per cent) could be followed for an average of 3.5 years (a typical return rate of urban trauma centers).
  • (17) These results indicate that during IPPV the increased Pcv attenuates the pressure gradient for venous return and decreases CO and that the compensatory increase in Psf is caused by a blood shift from unstressed to stressed blood volume.
  • (18) A 99.0% response rate was obtained: 2750 of a possible 2778 diaries were returned.
  • (19) Dominic Fifield Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ravel Morrison, who has been on loan at QPR, may be set for a return to Loftus Road.
  • (20) But whatever they invested in me, they got in return 10, 20 times more.

Serve


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To work for; to labor in behalf of; to exert one's self continuously or statedly for the benefit of; to do service for; to be in the employment of, as an inferior, domestic, serf, slave, hired assistant, official helper, etc.; specifically, in a religious sense, to obey and worship.
  • (v. t.) To be subordinate to; to act a secondary part under; to appear as the inferior of; to minister to.
  • (v. t.) To be suitor to; to profess love to.
  • (v. t.) To wait upon; to supply the wants of; to attend; specifically, to wait upon at table; to attend at meals; to supply with food; as, to serve customers in a shop.
  • (v. t.) Hence, to bring forward, arrange, deal, or distribute, as a portion of anything, especially of food prepared for eating; -- often with up; formerly with in.
  • (v. t.) To perform the duties belonging to, or required in or for; hence, to be of use to; as, a curate may serve two churches; to serve one's country.
  • (v. t.) To contribute or conduce to; to promote; to be sufficient for; to satisfy; as, to serve one's turn.
  • (v. t.) To answer or be (in the place of something) to; as, a sofa serves one for a seat and a couch.
  • (v. t.) To treat; to behave one's self to; to requite; to act toward; as, he served me very ill.
  • (v. t.) To work; to operate; as, to serve the guns.
  • (v. t.) To bring to notice, deliver, or execute, either actually or constructively, in such manner as the law requires; as, to serve a summons.
  • (v. t.) To make legal service opon (a person named in a writ, summons, etc.); as, to serve a witness with a subp/na.
  • (v. t.) To pass or spend, as time, esp. time of punishment; as, to serve a term in prison.
  • (v. t.) To copulate with; to cover; as, a horse serves a mare; -- said of the male.
  • (v. t.) To lead off in delivering (the ball).
  • (v. t.) To wind spun yarn, or the like, tightly around (a rope or cable, etc.) so as to protect it from chafing or from the weather. See under Serving.
  • (v. i.) To be a servant or a slave; to be employed in labor or other business for another; to be in subjection or bondage; to render menial service.
  • (v. i.) To perform domestic offices; to be occupied with household affairs; to prepare and dish up food, etc.
  • (v. i.) To be in service; to do duty; to discharge the requirements of an office or employment. Specifically, to act in the public service, as a soldier, seaman. etc.
  • (v. i.) To be of use; to answer a purpose; to suffice; to suit; to be convenient or favorable.
  • (v. i.) To lead off in delivering the ball.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) These variants may serve as useful gene markers in alcohol research involving animal model studies with inbred strains in mice.
  • (2) The results indicated that neuropsychological measures may serve to broaden the concept of intelligence and that a brain-related criterion may contribute to a fuller understanding of its nature.
  • (3) The possibility that the ventral nerve photoreceptor cells serve a neurosecretory function in the adult Limulus is discussed.
  • (4) Despite a 10-year deadline to have the same number of ethnic minority officers in the ranks as in the populations they serve, the target was missed and police are thousands of officers short.
  • (5) Evidence is presented in support of the hypothesis that fresh bat guano serves as a means of pathogenic fungi dissemination in caves.
  • (6) Human gingival fibroblasts were allowed to attach and spread on bio-glasses for 1-72 h. Unreactive silica glass and cell culture polystyrene served as controls.
  • (7) Abbott also unveiled his new ministry, which confirmed only one woman would serve in the first Abbott cabinet.
  • (8) Patients served as their individual control based on observations of at least 1 year before the study.
  • (9) It is entirely proper for serving judges to set out the arguments in high-profile cases to help public understanding of the legal issues, as long as it is done in an even-handed way.
  • (10) Female littermates injected with 0.15 M NaCl served as controls.
  • (11) One-half of the specimens were treated with citric acid, pH 1, for 3 minutes, while the remainder served as untreated control specimens.
  • (12) The functions of O-GlcNAc remain largely unknown, but it may be important in blocking phosphorylation sites, it may be required for the assembly of specific multiprotein complexes, it might serve as a nuclear transport signal, or it may be directly involved in the active transport of macromolecules across nuclear pores.
  • (13) It has 200 volunteers each week to serve 38,000 individuals.
  • (14) Child age was negatively correlated with mother's use of commands, reasoning, threats, and bribes, and positively correlated with maternal nondirectives, servings, and child compliance.
  • (15) We suggest that neuronal PACAP may serve to modulate motor activity and secretion in the lower esophageal sphincter region.
  • (16) In a poll before the debate, 48% predicted that Merkel, who will become Europe's longest serving leader if re-elected on 22 September, would emerge as the winner of the US-style debate, while 26% favoured Steinbruck, a former finance minister who is known for his quick-wit and rhetorical skills, but sometimes comes across as arrogant.
  • (17) Eight vagotomy-gastrectomy dogs were studied; 4 had a jejunal fistula, and 4 other dogs without a fistula served as controls.
  • (18) It is suggested the participation of glycogen (starch) in the self-oscillatory mechanism of the futile cycle formed by the phosphofructokinase and fructose bisphosphatase reactions may give rise to oscillations with the period of 10(3)-10(4) min, which may serve as the basis for the cell clock.
  • (19) Variables from the medical history, physical examination, laboratory tests, and radiographs were used to develop different sets of criteria to serve different investigative purposes.
  • (20) This system may serve as a model to explain the mechanisms by which cells accumulate in inflamed joints.