# What can you serve but never eat?

Source: https://silverapuzzles.com/riddles/what-can-you-serve-but-never-eat

A dinner-table word used on a court. Serving usually means bringing food, but the thing in this riddle is served and never eaten.

**Answer:** A ball.

In tennis and volleyball, players serve a ball.

Hint: Think sports.

## How to think about it

1. Food can be served and eaten, so the answer is something served in a different sense.
2. Think of other things we serve: a sentence, a purpose, a customer, a ball.
3. The hint says to think sports.
4. In tennis and volleyball you serve a ball, and nobody eats it.

## Why “a ball” is the answer

A tennis ball or volleyball is served to start a point, so it is served constantly and never eaten. The riddle plays on the sports meaning of “serve” against the restaurant meaning. A prison sentence can also be served and not eaten, which makes it a popular alternative answer.

## Common wrong answers

- **A prison sentence.** You serve a sentence and never eat it, so this works too; the sports hint points to a ball.
- **A plate.** You serve food on a plate, but the plate itself is not what is served.