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break someone's serve



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Idioms and Phrases

In tennis and related sports, win a game served by one's opponent, as in The only way he'll win the match is to break Bill's serve . The use of serve , from the earlier service , meaning “starting play” in these sports, dates from the early 1600s.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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