serve up

phraseB2Not compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To serve up food is to put it on plates and bring it to the table. Serve up the dinner, serve up hot, ready to serve up.

The up adds nothing to the meaning except a sense of finishing, which is what these little verbs usually do. Figuratively you can serve up an excuse or a performance, and the tone is faintly dismissive.

Definitions of serve up

1phraseserve upTo put the finished food onto plates and bring it to the table.B2
“Give me two minutes and I will serve up.”
- Said"Serve up while it's hot; I'll call them to the table."
- WrittenHe served up the stew in the same chipped bowls his mother had used.
- UsedServe up straight from the oven and let each person add salt.
- ContrastServe up, not cook. Cooking is the work at the stove; serving up is filling the plates and carrying them. cook →
- Not thisLeaving the pot on the hob for guests is not it. Serve up means you load the plates.
- SimplyServe up the dinner. Put it on the plates.
Patternserve up + noun (dinner, a dish) · serve sth up · serve up seconds · serving

serve up is a phrase.

Also accepted in games: dish up

Remember it

SERVE UP → carry it UP to the table, hot

The cooking is done: fill the plates and carry them up to the table while everything is still hot.

Practised in In the Kitchen

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