What does "deserve" mean?
Deserve: John Gay deserved to be a favorite. Thackeray. Encouragement is not held out to things that deserve reprehension. Burke.
Additional senses
- 2.To serve; to treat; to benefit. [Obs.] A man that hath So well deserved me. Massinger.
- 3.To be worthy of recompense; -- usually with ill or with well. One man may merit or deserve of another. South.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00