serial
serial — adjective
1. relates to someone who carries out the same type of harmful or illegal act again
relates to someone who carries out the same type of harmful or illegal act again and again over a period — for example, a murderer who kills many victims one after another, or a thief who steals repeatedly.
Police arrested a serial killer who had attacked seven people over two years.
serial + killer for multiple murders
Judges in many countries give harsher sentences to serial offenders who refuse to change.
serial + offender for repeat criminals
A serial fraudster tricked dozens of elderly people out of their life savings.
Detectives studied the pattern of fires set by a serial arsonist over three years.
A witness helped police identify a serial shoplifter who stole from local stores.
- repeat
more general, used for any repeated action without the criminal connotation (e.g. repeat customer, repeat performance)
- habitual
suggests a fixed pattern by force of habit, often with negative tone (e.g. habitual liar, habitual offender)
- chronic
emphasises long-standing, hard-to-break patterns, often used for addiction or illness rather than crime
- one-time
describes an act that happens only once, not repeatedly
文法句型
serial + noun (criminal/offender/killer)
用法筆記
Only used before a noun (attributive position). The noun that follows is almost always a type of criminal or a harmful act. Common examples: serial killer, serial offender, serial rapist, serial arsonist, serial fraudster. The sense does not extend to non-criminal repeated behaviour (e.g. a person who watches many movies is not a 'serial movie-watcher').
常見錯誤
2. broadcast or published as a set of separate parts that come out one after anothe
broadcast or published as a set of separate parts that come out one after another — for example, a TV drama with a new episode each week, or a story printed across several magazine issues.
Liam watches a new serial drama every Tuesday night with his flatmates.
serial + drama for TV shows in episodes
The magazine ran the story in serial form across six issues last year.
serial form for publication in instalments
Some classic novels first appeared as serial stories in nineteenth-century newspapers.
When a novel is published in serial parts, readers wait a month for each chapter.
Rodrigo prefers serial podcasts because each episode ends with a clue about the next one.
- episodic
focuses on the content being divided into episodes, more common for TV and podcasts
- serialised
specifically describes a work that has been turned into a serial format from a single original
- standalone
describes a work that is complete in one part, not needing a sequel or next episode
文法句型
serial + noun (drama/novel/publication/story)
用法筆記
Used attributively before nouns related to media content. The noun typically names a type of creative work: drama, story, novel, publication, podcast. Contrasts with 'standalone' or 'one-off', which describe works that are complete in a single part.
常見錯誤
3. describes a way of sending data through a single wire or channel, where each pie
describes a way of sending data through a single wire or channel, where each piece of information travels one at a time in a line — for example, an older computer port that transmits data this way.
Older computer mice used a serial port at the back of the machine.
serial + port for hardware connection
A serial cable sends one bit of data at a time through a single wire.
serial cable transmits one bit at a time
Indra found an old serial connector in a box of parts at a garage sale.
The museum display showed a vintage computer with a serial port still attached.
Serial connections were common before USB technology became widely available.
- sequential
broader term for any step-by-step process, not specific to computing hardware
- parallel
describes data transmission where multiple bits travel simultaneously through separate wires
文法句型
serial + noun (port/cable/connection/interface)
用法筆記
Technical computing term. The opposite concept is 'parallel', where multiple bits travel at the same time through separate wires. Modern computers rarely include serial ports, though the term is still used in networking and hardware specifications.
常見錯誤
4. placed in a specific order following a numbered system, usually for identificati
placed in a specific order following a numbered system, usually for identification purposes — for example, a product number that increases by one for each new item made.
Every product from this factory has a unique serial code printed on its bottom.
serial code for unique identification numbers
Eitan wrote down the serial number of his laptop in case it got stolen.
Banks record the serial number of each banknote when large sums are printed.
New employees receive a serial ID number when they join the company.
The books on the library shelf are labelled with serial numbers from one to fifty.
- sequential
broader term meaning 'one after another', used for any ordered arrangement
- consecutive
emphasises that items follow each other without gaps (e.g. consecutive numbers 1, 2, 3)
- random
describes items that are not arranged in any fixed order
文法句型
serial + noun (number/code/order/ID)
用法筆記
Used before nouns that refer to identifiers or labels. The most common collocation is 'serial number', which identifies a single item uniquely. 'Serial code' and 'serial ID' are also frequent. This sense does not carry any criminal or media meaning — it simply means 'in a numbered sequence'.
常見錯誤
serial — noun
1. a story told in separate parts through television, radio, a newspaper, or a maga
a story told in separate parts through television, radio, a newspaper, or a magazine — for example, a TV show whose story continues each week, or a novel printed in several parts of a magazine.
The TV serial has run for ten seasons and is still popular around the world.
TV serial for multi-season show
Sayaka enjoys reading a historical serial that appears in the weekend newspaper.
A popular radio serial from the 1950s was rebroadcast on public radio last month.
The newspaper serial about the artist's early life won a national journalism award.
Lakshmi downloaded all episodes of the detective serial to watch on the flight.
- series
more common in modern English for TV shows; a series can have multiple seasons while a serial typically has a planned number of parts
- miniseries
a short serial with a fixed, small number of episodes, often telling one complete story
文法句型
a/an + serial
the + serial
serial + about/of
用法筆記
A countable noun. In British English, 'serial' often refers to a TV or radio drama broadcast in episodes. In American English, 'series' is more common for TV, while 'serial' is used more for print stories. The term 'mini-serial' describes a short serial with only a few parts.
常見錯誤
2. a printed work like a journal or magazine that is released at fixed intervals, w
a printed work like a journal or magazine that is released at fixed intervals, with its issues numbered in an ongoing sequence — for example, a medical journal published every three months.
The university library keeps a collection of academic serials on the third floor.
academic serials for journals and periodicals
Medical serials publish new research papers every few months for doctors and scientists.
The subscription to this scientific serial costs two hundred dollars for one year.
Librarians at Hamza's university check each week to see which new serials have arrived.
Students must learn how to find and cite articles from serial publications for their research.
- periodical
more common in everyday use; refers to any publication that comes out at regular intervals
- journal
more specific, usually academic or professional; each issue contains articles by different contributors
- monograph
a single, self-contained book on one subject, not part of an ongoing series
文法句型
a/an + serial
academic serial
scientific serial
用法筆記
This is a formal, technical term used mostly in library science, academic publishing, and cataloguing contexts. In everyday conversation, 'journal', 'magazine', or 'periodical' are preferred. The key feature of a serial in this sense is that it continues indefinitely — unlike a book, it has no planned final issue.