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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

disservice en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • dis·sər´vĭs (US)
  • /dɪ(s)ˈsɝvɪs/ (US)
  • /dɪ(s)ˈsɜːvɪs/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin dis- Old French des-bor. Latin dis-bor. Middle English dis- English dis- English service English disservice From dis- + service.

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable) Service that results in harm; an (intentionally or unintentionally) unhelpful, harmful action.
    • One renders young people a disservice by heaping unearned rewards on them.
    • Often schools of music focus solely on the canon of Western classical art music, but this is a disservice to music educators who will have to deal with students from many different backgrounds and preferences. 2014, Michele Kaschub, Janice Smith, Promising Practices in 21st Century Music Teacher Education, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
    • Treating narratives like something you can stretch out to give more value does a disservice to players and our engagement. 2018 July 5, Sam Greer, “Games want to offer us many roads but Kentucky Route Zero is the one road that matters”, in Eurogamer:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
disservices Number=Plur lexicographic

Translations (16)

lt meškos paslauga (service that results in harm) · sv björntjänst (service that results in harm) · de Bärendienst (service that results in harm) · ka დათვური სამსახური (service that results in harm) · cs medvědí služba (service that results in harm) · pt desserviço (service that results in harm) · fr desservice (service that results in harm) · fi karhunpalvelus (service that results in harm) · de schlechter Dienst (service that results in harm) · de Schaden (service that results in harm) · es flaco favor (service that results in harm) · ro deserviciu (service that results in harm) · es deservicio (service that results in harm) · fr mauvais service (service that results in harm) · hi अपकार (service that results in harm) · pl niedźwiedzia przysługa (service that results in harm)

disservice en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • dis·sər´vĭs (US)
  • /dɪ(s)ˈsɝvɪs/ (US)
  • /dɪ(s)ˈsɜːvɪs/ (UK)

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin dis- Old French des-bor. Latin dis-bor. Middle English dis- English dis- English service English disservice From dis- + service.

Meanings

  1. To disserve, to provide a disservice to; to provide harmful or inadequate service to.
    • One librarian said, "I could double the circulation tomorrow by closing the periodical stacks and counting every time I handed out a magazine, but I would be disservicing our readers." 1975, Sarah Katharine Thomson, Learning resource centers in community colleges:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
disservices Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
disserviced Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
disserviced Tense=Past lexicographic
disservicing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Relateds

disserve