TheCivil Service of a country consists of its government departments and all the people who work in them. In many countries, the departments concerned with military and legal affairs are not part of the Civil Service.
...a job in the Civil Service.
civil service in British English
noun
1.
the service responsible for the public administration of the government of a country. It excludes the legislative, judicial, and military branches. Members of the civil service have no official political allegiance and are not generally affected by changes of governments
2.
the members of the civil service collectively
civil service in American English
1.
all those employed in government administration except in the armed forces, legislature, or judiciary
2.
any government service in which a position is secured through competitive public examination
Word origin
orig. applied to the civilian staff of the British East India Company
Examples of 'civil service' in a sentence
civil service
If they fail, the civil service or local government is still the top choice for a career outside law.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The civil service is about public service.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The civil service and local government must be similarly bold.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
In any case they were of quite another class to the usual run of civil service and military wives.
Hyland, Paul Indian Balm - Travels in the Southern Subcontinent (1994)
And any military or civil service veteran knows that a person can have high status with no real power.
Christianity Today (2000)
She called for the protests to be abandoned so that the government and civil service could go back to running the country.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Nobody is more committed to smaller, more efficient government than the civil service.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The senior military and civil service prospered as well, together with a small middle class.
Grenville, J. A. S. The Collins History of the World in the 20th Century (1994)
And she has more common sense in her little finger than all the cover-up merchants that inhabit our government and civil service.
The Sun (2015)
He added that there was'absolutely no pressure on this from the civil service or the government '.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The lack of ownership of profits combined with the civil service system in government, which often guarantees jobs, causes convoluted incentives for workers.
Miller, Roger LeRoy & Fishe, Raymond P. H. Microeconomics: Price Theory in Practice (1995)
DOWNING STREET is considering radical reforms to the civil service as the government battles to implement its cuts programme.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
In other languages
Civil Service
British English: Civil Service NOUN
The Civil Service of a country consists of its government departments and all the people who work in them.