the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. The quality or state of being subservient; instrumental fitness or use; hence, willingness to serve another's purposes; in a derogatory sense, servility.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. Same as subserviency.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. in a subservient state
n. abject or cringing submissiveness
n. the condition of being something that is useful in reaching an end or carrying out a plan
Word Usage
"Here it was before him, a courtroom and a judge, bowed down in subservience by the machine to a dive-keeper who swung a string of votes."