Part 259

To go on the forlorn hope is a service of peril; who will understake it if it be not also a service of honor?

Macaulay.

3. Office of devotion; official religious duty performed; religious rites appropriate to any event or ceremonial; as, a burial service.

The outward service of ancient religion, the rites, ceremonies, and ceremonial vestments of the old law.

Coleridge.

4. Hence, a musical composition for use in churches.

5. Duty performed in, or appropriate to, any office or charge; official function; hence, specifically, military or naval duty; performance of the duties of a soldier.

When he cometh to experience of service abroad . . . ne maketh a worthy soldier.

Spenser.

6. Useful office; advantage conferred; that which promotes interest or happiness; benefit; avail.

The stork's plea, when taken in a net, was the service she did in picking up venomous creatures.

L'Estrange.

7. Profession of respect; acknowledgment of duty owed. "Pray, do my service to his majesty." Shak.

8. The act and manner of bringing food to the persons who eat it; order of dishes at table; also, a set or number of vessels ordinarily used at table; as, the service was tardy and awkward; a service of plate or glass.

There was no extraordinary service seen on the board.

Hakewill.

9. (Law) The act of bringing to notice, either actually or constructively, in such manner as is prescribed by law; as, the service of a subpœna or an attachment.

10. (Naut.) The materials used for serving a rope, etc., as spun yarn, small lines, etc.

11. (Tennis) The act of serving the ball.

12. Act of serving or covering. See Serve, v. t., 13.

Service book, a prayer book or missal. - - Service line (Tennis), a line parallel to the net, and at a distance of 21 feet from it. -- Service of a writ, process, etc. (Law), personal delivery or communication of the writ or process, etc., to the party to be affected by it, so as to subject him to its operation; the reading of it to the person to whom notice is intended to be given, or the leaving of an attested copy with the person or his attorney, or at his usual place of abode. -- Service of an attachment (Law), the seizing of the person or goods according to the direction. -- Service of an execution (Law), the levying of it upon the goods, estate, or person of the defendant. -- Service pipe, a pipe connecting mains with a dwelling, as in gas pipes, and the like. Tomlinson. -- To accept service. (Law) See under Accept. -- To see service (Mil.), to do duty in the presence of the enemy, or in actual war.

Serv"ice*a*ble (?), a. 1. Doing service; promoting happiness, interest, advantage, or any good; useful to any end; adapted to any good end use; beneficial; advantageous. "Serviceable to religion and learning". Atterbury. "Serviceable tools." Macaulay.

I know thee well, a serviceable villain.

Shak.

2. Prepared for rendering service; capable of, or fit for, the performance of duty; hence, active; diligent.

Courteous he was, lowly, and servysable.

Chaucer.

Bright-hearnessed angels sit in order serviceable.