Garnish Definition

gärnĭsh

garnished, garnishes

verb

garnished, garnishes

To decorate; adorn; embellish; trim.

Webster's New World

To decorate (food) with something that adds color or flavor.

A steak garnished with parsley.

Webster's New World

To attach as a result of a garnishment.

Webster's New World

To serve (someone) with papers announcing the garnishment of that person's property in order to satisfy a debt.

American Heritage

To seize a debtor’s property, held by a third party, in order to recover a debt; commonly against debtor’s earnings from an employer.

Webster's New World Law

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noun

garnishes

A decoration; ornament.

Webster's New World

Something put on or around food to add color or flavor, as parsley or watercress.

Webster's New World

A fee, esp. one formerly extorted from new prisoners by inmates of English jails or by the jailer.

Webster's New World

A set of dishes, often pewter, containing a dozen pieces of several types.

Wiktionary

Pewter vessels in general.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Other Word Forms of Garnish

Singular:

garnish

Plural:

From Middle English garnischen, from Old French garniss-, stem of certain forms of the verb garnir, guarnir, warnir (“to provide, furnish, avert, defend, warn, fortify, garnish”), from a conflation of Old Frankish *warnjan (“to refuse, deny”) and *warnōn (“warn, protect, prepare, beware, guard oneself”), from Proto-Germanic *warnijaną (“to worry, care, heed”) and Proto-Germanic *warnōną (“to warn”); both from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to defend, protect, cover”). Cognate with Old English wiernan (“to withhold, be sparing of, deny, refuse, reject, decline, forbid, prevent from, avert”) and warnian (“to warn, caution, take warning, take heed, guard oneself against, deny”). More at warn.

From Wiktionary
Middle English garnishen from Old French garnir garniss- of Germanic origin wer-⁴ in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition