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Glite Dictionary
💸 To take for debt 👤 A person owing money
to garnishee

to garnishee

1 9.8
To take part of someone's wages or money from their bank account by court order to pay a debt
  • verb
  • /ˌɡɑrnɪˈʃi/
  • Jargon
translation icon : embargar
  • garnishee wages
  • garnishee his pay

Examples

  • If some kind of payment isn't made... ... I'm gonna have to contact your paper, garnishee your wages.

    Fletch (1985)

  • The government garnisheed his wages for a time and threatened to sue him.

    Blog text (24)

  • I can't have my wages garnisheed.

    Fletch (1985)

  • The court decided to garnishee his wages to ensure the child support payments were made.

  • To recover the unpaid debt, the creditor requested the judge to garnishee the debtor's salary.

  • After missing several payments, the bank had no choice but to garnishee a portion of her earnings.

Synonyms

to garnish
vsto garnishee
  • Formal
7 8.4

To have an employer or court take part of a person's pay for a debt

is broader, allowing seizure of wages or assets often by court order

Antonyms

to release
∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

How Much

to seize
  • Formal
156 4.6
to confiscate
154 5.5
to garnishee
  • Jargon
1 9.8
to deduct
57 3.9
to withhold
210 5.1

Surface Forms

garnishee infinitive
garnishing present participle
garnishees third person singular
garnisheed past
garnisheed past participle

Etymology

Garnishee as a verb comes from the same old French root garnir 'to hold' and the legal use of garnish for taking money from a third party, so to garnishee someone is to legally take part of their pay or money to cover a debt.