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de·serve Listen to audio/dɪˈzɚv/ verb
de·serves; de·served; de·serv·ing
[+ obj] — used to say that someone or something should or should not have or be given something She deserves another chance. He doesn't deserve the award. Every defendant deserves a fair trial. The newspaper deserves a lot of credit for calling attention to the problem. I think the idea deserves [=merits] consideration. The story deserves telling. [=the story should be told; the story is important enough to tell] What did I do to deserve this kind of harsh treatment? [=you should not treat me this way] She believes that people eventually get what they deserve. He deserves a medal for coming up with a solution so quickly. [=he did something very good and impressive by coming up with a solution so quickly]often followed by to + verb Anyone who will not use a map deserves to get lost. They deserve to be punished. He deserves to win.
— deserved /dɪˈzɚvd/ adjective
a well-deserved vacation/break a deserved win/victory/reputation The award/criticism was not deserved.
— de·serv·ed·ly /dɪˈzɚvədli/ adverb
She was deservedly praised for her generosity. He has been accused of being selfish, and deservedly so. [=he deserves to be called selfish; it is reasonable to call him selfish because of his behavior]

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