garner support
/ˈɡɑːrnər səˈpɔːrt/
Meaning
To 'garner support' means to gather, collect, or acquire approval, assistance, or backing from others. It is frequently used in business, politics, and organizational leadership when trying to build consensus for a new initiative, proposal, or policy. The term carries a formal tone and suggests that deliberate effort was made to win people over.
Examples
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The CEO spent weeks meeting with department heads to garner support for the restructuring plan.
The CEO spent weeks meeting with department heads to garner support for the restructuring plan.
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Despite our best efforts, we failed to garner enough support from the board to pass the resolution.
Despite our best efforts, we failed to garner enough support from the board to pass the resolution.
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The marketing team launched an internal campaign to garner support for the brand refresh.
The marketing team launched an internal campaign to garner support for the brand refresh.
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To garner support for the new policy, we must clearly communicate its long-term benefits to the staff.
To garner support for the new policy, we must clearly communicate its long-term benefits to the staff.
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She managed to garner widespread support by addressing the employees' concerns directly.
She managed to garner widespread support by addressing the employees' concerns directly.
Common Mistakes
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✗ We need to garner more supports for the project.
✓ We need to garner more support for the project.
'Support' is an uncountable noun in this context and should not be pluralized.
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✗ The manager tried to garner support to the team.
✓ The manager tried to garner support from the team.
You garner support 'from' a group of people, not 'to' them.
Related Expressions
Practice
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Before presenting to the investors, we need to ___ from our internal stakeholders.
💡 gather backing
Show answer
garner support
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The proposed green initiative is struggling to ___ due to concerns over initial implementation costs.
💡 collect approval
Show answer
garner support