Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To enhance in appearance by adding decorative touches; embellish: a coat that was garnished with a fur collar.
- v. To decorate (prepared food or drink) with small colorful or savory items: garnished the potatoes with parsley.
- v. Law To garnishee.
- n. Ornamentation; embellishment.
- n. An embellishment added to a prepared food or drink for decoration or added flavor.
- n. Slang An unwarranted fee, such as one extorted from a new prisoner by a jailer.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- 1. To fortify; defend.
- To adorn; decorate with ornaments or appendages; set off.
- To fit with fetters.
- To furnish; supply; garrison.
- In cookery, to ornament, as a dish, with something laid round it.
- In law, to warn; give notice. Specifically— To summon in, so as to take part in litigation already pending between others.
- n. Ornament; something added for embellishment; decoration; dress; array.
- n. In cookery, something placed round or added to a principal dish at table, either for embellishment merely or for use as a relish.
- n. A set of dishes, plates, and the like, for table use.
- n. Fetters.
- n. A fee, as to a servant; specifically, money formerly paid by a prisoner on his going to prison as a fee to fellow-prisoners: now illegal.
Wiktionary
- v. To decorate with ornamental appendages; to set off; to adorn; to embellish; as, all within with flowers was garnished.
- v. cooking To ornament, as a dish, with something laid about it; as, a dish garnished with parsley.
- v. To furnish; to supply.
- v. To fit with fetters.
- v. law To warn by garnishment; to give notice to; to garnishee.
- n. a set of dishes, often pewter, containing a dozen pieces of several types.
- n. pewter vessels in general.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To decorate with ornamental appendages; to set off; to adorn; to embellish.
- v. (Cookery) To ornament, as a dish, with something laid about it.
- v. To furnish; to supply.
- v. Cant To fit with fetters.
- v. (Law) To warn by garnishment; to give notice to; to garnishee. See Garnishee, v. t.
- n. Something added for embellishment; decoration; ornament; also, dress; garments, especially such as are showy or decorated.
- n. (Cookery) Something set round or upon a dish as an embellishment, such as parsley. See Garnish, v. t., 2.
- n. Cant Fetters.
- n. Cant A fee; specifically, in English jails, formerly an unauthorized fee demanded by the old prisoners of a newcomer.
WordNet 3.0
- v. decorate (food), as with parsley or other ornamental foods
- n. any decoration added as a trimming or adornment
- v. take a debtor's wages on legal orders, such as for child support
- n. something (such as parsley) added to a dish for flavor or decoration
Etymologies
- 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 *warnijanan (“to worry, care, heed”) and Proto-Germanic *warnōnan (“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. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English garnishen, from Old French garnir, garniss-, of Germanic origin; see wer-4 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“This, he said, was what they call garnish, and concluded with advising his new customer to draw his purse upon the present occasion.”
“And two slices on fresh avocado on top for garnish is cool too.”
“Some of my favorite additives are, pickle juice, A1 only a dab and the garnish is everything ….”
The Perfect Sunday Morning Bloody Mary | Lifehacker Australia
“Well, actually the onion garnish is made a day ahead. you can use the pickled onions for up to 5 days, on other stuff, too, says Ms. Madison.”
“I'm not sure); the possible avocado garnish is rich in glutathione, a powerful antioxidant, and they are a great source of potassium, and of course last but not least any meal or dish with loads of veggies helps fight cancers such as colo-rectal cancer ...”
“Giorgio Locatelli explains in Made in Italy that pizza has to have "the perfect balance between a thin crisp base and a softer garnish, which is why you have to eat it within 5–6 minutes of it coming out of the oven, or it will be soggy and spoilt".”
“Adding the pomegranate seeds to the garnish is a fabulous idea :”
“This one has cucumbers, fresh mint leaves and the garnish is a delicate sprinkling of fresh grated coconut.”
“An argument might be made that this garnish was a distraction.”
“Various fruits can be used for this purpose, but celery, as has been stated, is about the only vegetable that combines well with fruit, unless, of course, the garnish, which is nearly always a vegetable, is considered a part of the salad.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘garnish’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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JURI - courtroom speak
Legal glossary with special focus on courtroom vocabulary
accused, acquittal, ADA, adjournment, adjudication, affidavit, affirmed, aggravated range, aggravating factors, allegation, alleged, answer and 794 more...
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Words that end in "-ish" but aren't a...
embellish, flourish, garnish, rubbish, nourish, admonish, punish, finish, blemish, abolish, accomplish, parish and 41 more...
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Hummus
Ingredients, variations, folklore, things (and people) to eat it with, etc.
hommus, tahini, lemon juice, sweet paprika, hummus, celery stick, mushroom, bagel, ruzuzu, salt, olive, garlic and 41 more...
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Verb ish
English verbs that end in -ish.
Most of these come from Old French stems that end in 'iss' like floriss-, brandiss-, distinguiss-, etc.
Exceptions are: Fish, Wish, Dish (f...flourish, brandish, vanish, astonish, perish, polish, nourish, famish, accomplish, admonish, banish, blemish and 24 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
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Autantonyms
Words that are the opposites of themselves; each of the words in the list below has at least two definitions of which one is the complete contrary of the other.
fast, buckle, weather, out, weedy, overlook, cleave, let, clip, quite, sanction, bolt and 19 more...
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hildjj's Words
bookmarklet, demisemiquaver, zeitgeist, hermeneutics, oligarch, quisling, absinthe, mellifluent, verisimilitude, implacable, necrotic, nacreous and 243 more...
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Autantonyms
Words with mutually exclusive double meanings. Also, here are some:
QUASI-AUTANTONYMS: slow up/slow down; bar/debar; bone/debone; burn up/burn down; fat chance/slim chance; fill in/fil...clip, cleave, sanction, handicap, fast, jibe, secrete, aloha, bimonthly, bolt, cheerio, commencement and 139 more...
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strangelyrouge's Words
glockenspiel, gewgaw, jetsam, flotsam, gripe, grab, wench, whilst, betwixt, hither, thither, yonder and 1034 more...
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spoon
being items relating to food, cooking and the kitchen.
spoon, fork, beef, slice, dozen, eggs, simmer, broil, salad, soup, stock, lard and 287 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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deegee's Words
pay-per-view, vitriol, delectable, snarky, unflinching, forsake, pervasive, inconsequential, unnerving, allure, endearing, unalloyed and 414 more...
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i_am_scifi's Words
asshat, charlatan, podcast, geek, amazonian, parlez, defile, menagerie, perplex, gotham, metropolis, ghoul and 131 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for garnish.

oroboros Contronymic in the sense: add-on vs. take away (as wages). Jan 27, 2007