garnish
Americanverb (used with object)
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to provide or supply with something ornamental; adorn; decorate.
a free-standing wall whose lower reaches are garnished by hanging gardens.
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to provide (a food) with something that adds flavor, decorative color, etc..
to garnish boiled potatoes with chopped parsley.
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Law.
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to attach (as money due or property belonging to a debtor) by garnishment; garnishee.
The court garnished his wages when he refused to pay child support.
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to summon in, so as to take part in litigation already pending between others.
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verb
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to decorate; trim
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to add something to (food) in order to improve its appearance or flavour
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law
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to serve with notice of proceedings; warn
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obsolete to summon to proceedings already in progress
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to attach (a debt)
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slang to extort money from
noun
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a decoration; trimming
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something, such as parsley, added to a dish for its flavour or decorative effect
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obsolete a payment illegally extorted, as from a prisoner by his jailer
Other Word Forms
- garnishable adjective
- garnisher noun
- overgarnish verb (used with object)
- regarnish verb (used with object)
- undergarnish verb (used with object)
- ungarnished adjective
- well-garnished adjective
Etymology
Origin of garnish
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English garnishen, from Old French garniss- (extended stem of garnir, guarnir “to furnish,” from Germanic ); warn
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They also noted that “it was arranged on platters with a small wedge of lemon and some garnish.”
From Salon
Your sibling who did not pay child support could have his income garnished or federal/state taxes intercepted to pay his former/estranged spouse; inheritance may also be garnished.
From MarketWatch
Most of the borrowers who are in default and see their wages garnished don’t actually need to go through this painful process.
From Barron's
Rent eats up more than half of Imeh’s take-home pay, which was slimmed after a credit-card company started garnishing part of her wages to pay off her card debts, she said.
That might include garnishing wages and tax refunds.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
