to serve someone hand and foot
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To be at his beck and call; to be his slave.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to serve someone hand and foot” mean?
To be at his beck and call; to be his slave.
Is “to serve someone hand and foot” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.