| Main Entry: | serve |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | act, do |
| Synonyms: | accept, agree, attend, be employed by, carry on, complete, discharge, follow, fulfill, function, go through, hearken, labor, obey, observe, officiate, pass, perform, subserve, toil, work |
| Antonyms: | refrain, refuse |
| Main Entry: | serve |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | suffice; do the work of |
| Synonyms: | advantage, answer, answer the purpose, apply, avail, be acceptable, be adequate, be good enough, be of use, be useful, benefit, content, do, do duty as, fill the bill, fit, function, make, profit, satisfy, service, suit, work, work for |
| Main Entry: | dish |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | main part of meal |
| Synonyms: | course, eats, entrée, fare, food, helping, recipe, serving |
| Notes: | dish is a more general term and plate is more specialized |
| Main Entry: | effective |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | productive, persuasive |
| Synonyms: | able, active, adequate, capable, cogent, compelling, competent, convincing, direct, effectual, efficacious, efficient, emphatic, energetic, forceful, forcible, having lead in pencil, impressive, live, moving, on the ball, operative, playing hardball, potent, powerful, powerhouse, practical, producing, resultant, serviceable, serving, sound, striking, sufficient, telling, trenchant, useful, valid, virtuous, wicked*, yielding |
| Notes: | effective means 'having a (desired) result or effect,' effectual is 'succeeding in producing a desired result or effect,' and efficacious means the same as effectual as well as 'serving as an effective solution or remedy' |
| Antonyms: | fruitless, impotent, incapable, ineffective, unproductive, useless, weak |
| Main Entry: | helping |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | portion of food |
| Synonyms: | allowance, course, dollop, meal, order, piece, plateful, ration, serving, share |
| Main Entry: | ingratiating |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | fawning, servile |
| Synonyms: | charming, crawling, deferential, disarming, flattering, humble, insinuating, obsequious, saccharine, serving, silken, smarmy, soft, sycophantic, toadying, unctuous |
| Antonyms: | deterring, disgusting, repellent |
| Main Entry: | plate |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | dish or meal served |
| Synonyms: | bowl, casserole, course, helping, platter, portion, service, serving, trencher |
| Notes: | dish is a more general term and plate is more specialized |
| Main Entry: | portion |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | share, cut, ration |
| Synonyms: | allocation, allotment, allowance, apportionment, bang, bit, chunk, division, divvy, drag*, dram, excerpt, extract, fix, fraction, fragment, gob, helping, hit, hunk, lagniappe, lion's share, lot, lump, measure, meed, member, moiety, morsel, parcel, part, piece, piece of action, plum, quantity, quantum, quota, scrap, section, segment, serving, shot*, slug, smithereen, taste |
| Notes: | a part is any of the components of a whole; a portion is a part allotted to or regarded as belonging to someone; a piece is a part separated from the whole; a division is a part formed by classifying, cutting, partitioning - and so is a section, though it is generally smaller; a segment is a part separated along natural lines of division; a fragment is a small part, usually broken off |
| Antonyms: | all, entirety, whole |