garnishment
Americannoun
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garnishments
plural
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Law.
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a warning, served on a third party to hold, subject to the court's direction, money or property belonging to a debtor who is being sued by a creditor.
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a summons to a third party to appear in litigation pending between a creditor and debtor.
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adornment or decoration.
noun
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the act of garnishing
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decoration or embellishment; garnish
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law
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a notice or warning
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obsolete a summons to court proceedings already in progress
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a notice warning a person holding money or property belonging to a debtor whose debt has been attached to hold such property until directed by the court to apply it
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of garnishment
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.
See Examples For:
These penalties include collection activity, wage garnishment, seized tax refunds, a poor credit score that will make it difficult to get loans, and even the entire balance becoming due.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
“That garnishment actually pushed me below minimum wage. How was that legal?”
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026
Only three million of these debtors, those who are delinquent for nine months or more, would be eligible for wage garnishment.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
But that will likely change starting in 2026, given the Education Department’s announcement that it’s restarting wage garnishment.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 30, 2025
Among these is a garnishment of green moss patches and fronds of perennial ferns which tell of life that the stress of winter could not overcome.
From In New England Fields and Woods by Rowland E. (Evans) Robinson
From what I’ve read, bankruptcy is generally intended for more severe financial situations involving lawsuits, wage garnishments or collection actions.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
The department has since reversed course, delaying the garnishments.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
Last year it was ordered to pay a $10 million civil penalty over unlawful garnishments.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
In 2021, Maryland barred hospitals from placing liens on patients' homes and protected low-income patients from wage garnishments.
From Salon ● Dec. 22, 2022
He was ever to the fore in retailing to his friends, plus certain garnishments of his own, any fresh evidence that chanced to come to light.
From The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume
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.
