1 B1 neutral
To put food on the table or onto plates, ready to be eaten.
"She served up a delicious three-course meal for the guests."
separable
serve up
B1 neutral separable transitive
To present food ready to eat, or to provide or produce something (often used critically).
In plain English
To put food on the table ready for people to eat, or to give or produce something for someone.
What does "serve up" mean?
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B2 idiomatic neutral
To provide or produce something, often something of disappointing quality (used figuratively).
"The committee served up the same tired arguments we had heard a dozen times before."
separable
Usage tip
The metaphorical sense (serving up excuses, performances, statistics) is very common in journalism with a slightly critical tone. The food sense is straightforward and everyday.
Words that pair with "serve up"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
meal excuse performance content statistics defeat
How to conjugate "serve up"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
serve up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
serves up
he/she/it
Past simple
served up
yesterday
Past participle
served up
have + pp
-ing form
serving up
continuous
Hear "serve up" in the wild
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Other ways to say "serve up"
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Keep exploring
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