garnish

American  

[gahr-nish] / ˈgɑr nɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

• garnishes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• garnished,
  past participle,  past
• garnishing
  present participle

1. to provide or supply with something ornamental; adorn; decorate.

   a free-standing wall whose lower reaches are garnished by hanging gardens.

   Synonyms:

   enhance, bedizen, bedeck, trim, beautify, ornament, embellish

2. to provide (a food) with something that adds flavor, decorative color, etc..

   to garnish boiled potatoes with chopped parsley.

3. Law.

   1. 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.

   2. to summon in, so as to take part in litigation already pending between others.

---

noun

• garnishes
  plural

1. something placed around or on a food or in a beverage to add flavor, decorative color, etc.

2. adornment or decoration.

   Synonyms:

   garniture, ornament

3. Chiefly British. a fee formerly demanded of a new convict or worker by the warden, boss, or fellow prisoners or workers.

garnish British  

/ ˈɡɑːnɪʃ /

verb

1. to decorate; trim

2. to add something to (food) in order to improve its appearance or flavour

3. law

   1. to serve with notice of proceedings; warn

   2. obsolete to summon to proceedings already in progress

   3. to attach (a debt)

4. slang to extort money from

---

noun

1. a decoration; trimming

2. something, such as parsley, added to a dish for its flavour or decorative effect

3. obsolete a payment illegally extorted, as from a prisoner by his jailer

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• garnisher
  noun
• overgarnish
  verb (used with object)
• regarnish
  verb (used with object)
• undergarnish
  verb (used with object)
• garnishable
  adjective
• ungarnished
  adjective
• well-garnished
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• garnishes
  plural

Participles

• garnishing
  present
• garnished
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• garnish
  simple
• garnishes
  simple
• have garnished
  perfect
• has garnished
  perfect
• am garnishing
  progressive
• are garnishing
  progressive
• is garnishing
  progressive
• have been garnishing
  perfect progressive
• has been garnishing
  perfect progressive

Past

• garnished
  simple
• had garnished
  perfect
• was garnishing
  progressive
• were garnishing
  progressive
• had been garnishing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will garnish
  simple
• will have garnished
  perfect
• will be garnishing
  progressive
• will have been garnishing
  perfect progressive

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 ); cf. warn

Explanation

A garnish is a decoration or embellishment, often used with food. It is also the verb that means to do the decorating: you can garnish a baked fish with a garnish of lemon slices and parsley. Long ago, in 14th-century France, the word garnir meant, in part, "to warn or defend," a meaning that survived in one of the meanings of garnish, "to seize wages to pay a debt." But word meanings often branch out, and "to warn" came to mean "to arm oneself," and later "to fit out or equip." It came to mean "to embellish" in Middle English, and, from the late 17th century on, the word was used commonly for the embellishment or decoration of food.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

garnish garnishes garnished garnishing

Accordingly, Judge Poland entered a default judgment into the record, which gave Midland Credit Management the right to tread on his bank account and garnish his wages.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

South Korean prosecutors sought a one-year jail term for the owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant accused of using ants as a dessert garnish, local media reported.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Private lenders, on the other hand, typically must sue you in court before they can garnish wages or seize your assets.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 11, 2026

Then drop in a few pickled cucumbers and garnish with a cilantro-onion sprinkle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026

Federal law provides that a child-support enforcement officer can garnish up to 65 percent of an individual’s wages for child support.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Another builds rainbow-colored bowls overflowing with blackened chicken, rice, leafy greens, fresh vegetables and other thoughtfully placed garnishes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Few automobile exteriors are ever finished like this, with its broad, sterling-like chrome garnishes at the lower grille intakes, the rocker panels, exhaust outlets and bumpers, all smoothed perfectly into the blown-glass curvatures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

Use it as a pasta base, topped with crunchy garnishes and a concentrated reduction.

From Salon ● May 16, 2025

In the trailer released earlier this month, Meghan garnishes a cake with raspberries and harvests honey in California, where she lives with her husband Prince Harry and two children.

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2025

I cooked them a special candlelit dinner, complete with blackberries and cilantro sprigs as garnishes, and rice molded to the shape of an upside-down cup like I’d seen in a magazine.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

While credit scores can suffer when borrowers are just a few months behind, entering default brings the possibility of more serious consequences, including garnished wages or Social Security payments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

And at times “Kenrex” verges on caricature in its depiction of rural life as a lawless Wild Midwest, garnished by such down-home delicacies as “a deep fried barbecue chili cheese dog with bacon crumbles.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

Three decades later, despite making payments and even having her wages garnished previously when she fell behind, she still owes $60,000.

From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026

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 ● Feb. 10, 2026

"This," the waiter announces, "is our raw Atlantic swordfish served in a dark chocolate gravy and garnished with fresh mint."

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

The department had said last month that it planned to start garnishing the pay of defaulted borrowers, with notices set to start going out in early January.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026

The Education Department announced that it would start garnishing the wages of borrowers in default on their loans early next year.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 30, 2025

Department of Education will begin garnishing wages from approximately 1,000 defaulted student loan borrowers early next year.

From Barron's ● Dec. 23, 2025

In Alabama, for instance, the state brought in more than $32 million in the past five fiscal years after garnishing 40 percent of prisoners’ wages.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2024

For the culinary part the yolks of eggs render important service for coloring, covering, and garnishing, and oranges furnish many delicious dishes.

From The Century Cook Book by Mary Ronald