garnish
- to provide or supply with something ornamental; adorn; decorate.
- to provide (a food) with something that adds flavor, decorative color, etc.: to garnish boiled potatoes with chopped parsley.
- Law.
- 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.
- to summon in, so as to take part in litigation already pending between others.
- something placed around or on a food or in a beverage to add flavor, decorative color, etc.
- adornment or decoration.
- Chiefly British. a fee formerly demanded of a new convict or worker by the warden, boss, or fellow prisoners or workers.
Origin of garnish
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words
trim, adornment, ornament, enhancement, decoration, ornamentation, trimming, tinsel, furbelow, gingerbread, bedeck, deck, beautify, decorate, enhance, grace, adornExamples from the Web for garnish
Contemporary Examples
Chill them in the ice water, strain, pat dry, and reserve for the garnish.
And just how many young drug dealers even have bank accounts, or paychecks to garnish?
To assemble taco place escabeche, fish and tartar sauce in a tortilla and garnish with cilantro and lime.
Cinco de Mayo Recipes: Tacos for One and AllMay 4, 2012
Strain over crushed ice and garnish with a lime wedge and maraschino cherry.
Finish with Angostura bitters and garnish with a lemon wheel.
Historical Examples
Garnish each fillet with a Spanish olive stuffed with anchovy.
The Cook's Decameron: A Study in Taste:Mrs. W. G. Waters
Put the tongue on a dish and garnish it with slices of fried cucumber.
The Cook's Decameron: A Study in Taste:Mrs. W. G. Waters
Fry in butter, and garnish with fried parsley and fried croutons.
The Cook's Decameron: A Study in Taste:Mrs. W. G. Waters
Pour over the dressing, and garnish with hard-boiled eggs and beetroot.
The Skilful CookMary Harrison
Any cooked vegetables can be put in the centre for a garnish.
The Skilful CookMary Harrison
garnish
- to decorate; trim
- to add something to (food) in order to improve its appearance or flavour
- law
- to serve with notice of proceedings; warn
- obsoleteto summon to proceedings already in progress
- to attach (a debt)
- slang to extort money from
- a decoration; trimming
- something, such as parsley, added to a dish for its flavour or decorative effect
- obsolete, slang a payment illegally extorted, as from a prisoner by his jailer
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for garnish
v.
late 14c., from Old French garniss-, present participle stem of garnir "provide, furnish; fortify, reinforce," from a Germanic stem related to Proto-Germanic *warnejan "be cautious, guard, provide for" (cf. Old High German warnon "to take heed," Old English warnian "to take warning, beware;" see warn). Sense evolution is from "arm oneself" to "fit out" to "embellish," which was the earliest meaning in English, though the others also were used in Middle English. Culinary sense of "to decorate a dish for the table" predominated after c.1700. Older meaning survives in legal sense of "warning of attachment of funds" (1570s). Related: Garnished; garnishing.
n.
late 14c., "set of tableware" (probably a dozen; usually pewter), from garnish (v.). Sense of "embellishments to food" is from 1670s.