COMMON If someone pays lip service or gives lip service to an idea, they say they are in favour of it, but do not do anything practical to support it. Nearly all Western manufacturers now pay lip service to these management techniques. Many chefs give lip service to the importance of fresh ingredients. Note: You can also just talk about lip service. All the talk about nation-building is pure lip service, because people who are selfish will never join with others to build the nation. Note: In this expression `service' means the same as respect. A contrast is being made here between what people say and what they really think, based on an idea expressed in various places in the Bible, including Matthew 15:8, `This people draweth nigh to me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me'.