1. [n]  an act of help or assistance; "he did them a service"
2. [n]  the performance of duties by a waiter or servant; "that restaurant has excellent service"
3. [n]  periodic maintenance on a car or machine; "it was time for an overhaul on the tractor"
4. [n]  the act of delivering a writ or summons upon someone; "he accepted service of the subpoena"
5. [n]  a stroke (in tennis or badminton or squash) that puts the ball in play; "his powerful serves won the game"
6. [n]  work done by one person or group that benefits another; "budget separately for goods and services"
7. [n]  (common law) the acts performed by an English feudal tenant for the benefit of his lord which formed the consideration for the property granted to him
8. [n]  employment in or work for another; "he retired after 30 years of service"
9. [n]  the act of mating by male animals; "the bull was worth good money in servicing fees"
10. [n]  the act of public worship following prescribed rules; "the Sunday service"
11. [n]  tableware consisting of a complete set of articles (silver or dishware) for use at table
12. [n]  a means of serving; "of no avail"; "there's no help for it"
13. [n]  a company or agency that performs a public service; subject to government regulation
14. [n]  a force that is a branch of the armed forces
15. [n]  Canadian writer (born in England) who wrote about life in the Yukon Territory (1874-1958)
16. [v]  make fit for use, as of appliances or cars; "service my truck"
17. [v]  mate with; "male animals serve the females for breeding purposes"
18. [v]  be used by; as of a utility; "The sewage plant served the neighboring communities"; "The garage served to shelter his horses"

Service
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1. \
   1. (Feud. Law) The military service by rendering which a
      knight held his lands; also, the tenure of lands held on
      condition of performing military service.
            By far the greater part of England [in the 13th
            century] is held of the king by knight's service. .
            . . In order to understand this tenure we must form
            the conception of a unit of military service. That
            unit seems to be the service of one knight or fully
            armed horseman (servitium unius militis) to be done
            to the king in his army for forty days in the year,
            if it be called for. . . . The limit of forty days
            seems to have existed rather in theory than
            practice.                             --Pollock &
                                                  Mait.
   2. Service such as a knight can or should render; hence, good
      or valuable service.
   

2. \Serv"ice\, n., or Service \Serv"ice\ [Properly, the
   tree which bears serve, OE. serves, pl., service berries, AS.
   syrfe service tree; akin to L. sorbus.] (Bot.)
   A name given to several trees and shrubs of the genus
   {Pyrus}, as {Pyrus domestica} and {P. torminalis} of Europe,
   the various species of mountain ash or rowan tree, and the
   American shad bush (see {Shad bush}, under {Shad}). They have
   clusters of small, edible, applelike berries.
   {Service berry} (Bot.), the fruit of any kind of service
      tree. In British America the name is especially applied to
      that of the several species or varieties of the shad bush
      ({Amelanchier}.)
   

3. \Serv"ice\, n. [OE. servise, OF. servise, service, F.
   service, from L. servitium. See {Serve}.]
   1. The act of serving; the occupation of a servant; the
      performance of labor for the benefit of another, or at
      another's command; attendance of an inferior, hired
      helper, slave, etc., on a superior, employer, master, or
      the like; also, spiritual obedience and love. ``O God . .
      . whose service is perfect freedom.'' --Bk. of Com.
      Prayer.
            Madam, I entreat true peace of you, Which I will
            purchase with my duteous service.     --Shak.
            God requires no man's service upon hard and
            unreasonable terms.                   --Tillotson.
   2. The deed of one who serves; labor performed for another;
      duty done or required; office.
            I have served him from the hour of my nativity, . .
            . and have nothing at his hands for my service but
            blows.                                --Shak.
            This poem was the last piece of service I did for my
            master, King Charles.                 --Dryden.
            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 subp[oe]na 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.
   

Work performed (or offered) by a server. This may mean simply serving simple requests for data to be sent or stored (as with file servers, gopher or http servers, e-mail servers, finger servers, SQL servers, etc.); or it may be more complex work, such as that of irc servers, print servers, X Windows servers, or process servers.

E.g. "Access to the finger service is restricted to the local subnet, for security reasons".