Meaning & use
silver service
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Meanings
noununcountableBritish
A formal style of serving in which waiters place food from a serving dish onto each guest's plate at the table.
Grammar: Usually without an article: the hotel offers silver service.
Patterns
- offer silver service
- dinner with silver service
The wedding banquet included silver service for two hundred guests.
The hotel trains its waiters in silver service.
Silver service is slower than plating food in the kitchen.
nouncountableold-fashioned
A matching set of silver dishes, plates and cutlery used for meals.
Grammar: Countable: a silver service of twelve places.
Patterns
- a silver service for twelve
She inherited a silver service from her grandmother.
The family brought out the silver service for the holiday dinner.
Word forms
| plural | silver services |
|---|
Common combinations
- offer silver service
- The caterer can offer silver service for large events.
- silver service waiter
- He worked as a silver service waiter at a London hotel.
- full silver service
- The ball featured full silver service.
- silver service dinner
- A silver service dinner marked the end of the conference.
Synonyms and how they differ
- table service
- Table service is general, while silver service is a specific formal technique.
- plated service
- Plated service means food arrives already arranged on plates, which is the opposite approach to silver service.
- formal dining
- Formal dining describes the whole style of event, not just how the waiters serve.
- banquet service
- Banquet service refers to the setting, while silver service names the way food is presented.
Opposites
Word family
- silver noun
- a shiny metal used for fine tableware
- service noun
- the act of serving food and drink
- silverware noun
- cutlery and dishes made of silver
Commonly confused: silver service or silver serving?
silver service vs silver serving
This is not a set term; silver service is the usual phrase for the style of service.
Practice
At a banquet with silver service, how do guests receive their food?
Choose one answer.
Silver service means waiters serve food from a dish onto each guest's plate. Plated service is the tempting alternative, but that is the opposite method.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “silver service”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.