Gar"nish (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Garnished (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Garnishing.] [OE. garnischen, garnissen, OF. garnir to provide, strengthen, prepare, garnish, warn, F. garnir to provide, furnish, garnish, -- of German origin; cf. OHG. warnōn to provide, equip; akin to G. wahren to watch, E. aware, ware, wary, and cf. also E. warn. See Wary, -ish, and cf. Garment, Garrison.] 1. To decorate with ornamental appendages; to set off; to adorn; to embellish.

All within with flowers was garnished.

2. (Cookery) To ornament, as a dish, with something laid about it; as, a dish garnished with parsley.

3. To furnish; to supply.

4. To fit with fetters. [Cant] Johnson.

5. (Law) To warn by garnishment; to give notice to; to garnishee. See Garnishee, v. t. Cowell.

Gar"nish, n. 1. Something added for embellishment; decoration; ornament; also, dress; garments, especially such as are showy or decorated.

So are you, sweet,
Even in the lovely garnish of a boy.

Matter and figure they produce;
For garnish this, and that for use.

2. (Cookery) Something set round or upon a dish as an embellishment. See Garnish, v. t., 2. Smart.

3. Fetters. [Cant]

4. A fee; specifically, in English jails, formerly an unauthorized fee demanded by the old prisoners of a newcomer. [Cant] Fielding.

• To decorate with ornamental appendages; to set off; to adorn; to embellish; as, all within with flowers was garnished.
  
• (Cookery) To ornament, as a dish, with something laid about it; as, a dish garnished with parsley.
  
• To furnish; to supply.
  
• To fit with fetters.
  
• (Law) To warn by garnishment; to give notice to; to garnishee.
  
• a set of dishes, often pewter, containing a dozen pieces of several types.
  
• pewter vessels in general.
       Quotations
       *1882: The accounts of collegiate and monastic institutions give abundant entries of the price of pewter vessels, called also garnish. — James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, Volume 4, p. 478.