Reinhold Niebuhr
Did you know?
What do you call a building in which grain is stored? These days, English speakers are most likely to call it a granary, but there was a time when garner was also a good candidate. That noun made its way into the language in the 12th century (ultimately from Latin granum, "grain"); the verb garner followed three centuries later with a closely related meaning: "to gather into a granary." Today the verb has largely abandoned its agrarian roots—it usually means "to earn" or "to accumulate." Meanwhile the noun garner is rare in contemporary use. It's found mostly in older literary contexts, such as these lines from Sir Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor: "Or, from the garner-door, on ether borne, / The chaff flies devious from the winnow'd corn."
Examples of garner in a Sentence
Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2026
Each category for length of service would garner a different multiple of their earnings in a lump sum, the longer the tenure, the higher the multiplier.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2026
This was always the case, but has only recently garnered more attention as the buzz around a potential deal began to fizzle after the combine.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 29 Mar. 2026
Courtesy Ricardo Martinez Martinez and Gordon's petition had garnered local attention, with about 3,000 signatures and residents expressing concern over the fate of Blondie’s two cubs, by the time Blondie was euthanized.
—Isabel Yip, NBC news, 27 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for garner
Cite this Entry
“Garner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garner. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Biographical Definition
Garner
biographical name
