Lexic.us

Definition of Deserve

1. Verb. Be worthy or deserving. "You deserve a promotion after all the hard work you have done"

Definition of Deserve

1. v. t. To earn by service; to be worthy of (something due, either good or evil); to merit; to be entitled to; as, the laborer deserves his wages; a work of value deserves praise.

2. v. i. To be worthy of recompense; -- usually with ill or with well.

Definition of Deserve

1. Verb. To be entitled to, as a result of past actions; to be worthy to have. ¹

2. Verb. (obsolete) To earn, win. ¹

3. Verb. (obsolete) To reward, to give in return for service. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Deserve

1. to be entitled to or worthy of [v -SERVED, -SERVING, -SERVES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Deserve

Literary usage of Deserve

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1887)
"them might deserve the reproaches of avarice and intemperance—of avarice, which they gratified with holy plunder : and of intemperance, which they indulged ..."

2. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing by Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck (1910)
"_ _ of saints and martyrs, especially those Christian inscriptions, especially those of the early Church, deserve careful attention by students of ..."

3. An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Walter William Skeat (1893)
"F. dés-, OFde¡ = Lat. dis-, apart, used as a negative prefix; and i.abi'ler, to dres See Habiliment. deserve, to merit, earn by service. (F.. ..."

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