:the part of a government that takes care of the government's basic business:the administrative part of a government(政府的)行政机关,文职部门 — often used before another noun常用于另一名词前
a civil service employee政府行政部门员工
the civil service system公务员制度
I took the civil service exam. [=I took a test to get a job in the civil service]我参加了公务员考试。