turn

A change of direction or orientation.

Noun

  1. A change of direction or orientation.
    • Give the handle a turn, then pull it.
    • With just the turn of a shoulder she indicated the water front, where[…]lay the good ship, Mount Vernon, river packet, the black smoke already pouring from her stacks. In turn he smiled and also shrugged a shoulder. -...
  2. A movement of an object about its own axis in one direction that continues until the object returns to its initial orientation.

    1. (geometry) A unit of plane angle measurement based on this movement.

  3. A walk to and fro.
    • Let's take a turn in the garden.
    • "I've made a turn round the place, sir, and the light was on," was the reply. - 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:

    Synonyms: promenade

  4. A chance to use something shared in sequence with others.
    • They took turns playing with the new toy.
    • With just the turn of a shoulder she indicated the water front, where[…]lay the good ship, Mount Vernon, river packet, the black smoke already pouring from her stacks. In turn he smiled and also shrugged a shoulder. -...
  5. A spell of work, especially the time allotted to a person in a rota or schedule.
    • I cooked tonight, so it's your turn to do the dishes.
  6. One's chance to make a move in a game having two or more players.
  7. A figure in music, often denoted ~, consisting of the note above the one indicated, the note itself, the note below the one indicated, and the note itself again.
  8. The time required to complete a project.
    • They quote a three-day turn on parts like those.

    Synonyms: turnaround

  9. The transition from one period or era, or hour on the clock, to another.
    • turn of the century
    • […] by cajolery and innuendo she had persuaded him to go to the picture palace to be cheered up, and as it was now on the turn of eleven he might be expected back at any moment. - 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max...
    • By about 1300, Hungary's population was three times what it had been at the turn of the millenium. - 1990, Ferenc Glatz, Etudes historiques hongroises 1990: Ethnicity and society in Hungary:
  10. A fit or a period of giddiness.
    • I've had a funny turn.
    • I'm sure I never shall forget the turn young Simmons gave me when he came in with that paper as he'd been and copied out of a winder thro' being in a west-end house, […] - 1865 September 23, “Mrs. Brown and the Emperor...
    • 'Then you must know as well as the rest of us that there was something queer about that gentleman—something that gave a man a turn—I don't know rightly how to say it, sir, beyond this: that you felt it in your marrow...
  11. A change in temperament or circumstance.
    • She took a turn for the worse.
  12. A sideways movement of the ball when it bounces (caused by rotation in flight).

Origin

Partly from Anglo-Norman *torn, from Latin tornus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos), and partly an action noun from the verb turn.

Forms

turns

Synonyms

360° turn complete rotation complete turn full rotation full turn loop go move dizziness dizzy spell giddiness change swing

Related

return turnabout turncoat turning turnout turnover turnpike turnstile turntable ornament trill

Derived

about-turn ampere-turn at every turn bad turn bank-and-turn indicator Buggins's turn Buggins' turn Choctaw turn clubhouse turn counterturn courtesy turn Cruyff turn epistemological turn evil turn face turn far turn filter in turn flip turn give someone a turn good turn hairpin turn half-turn hammerhead turn handbrake turn

Verb

  1. To make a non-linear physical movement.
    • the Earth turns
    • turn on the spot
    • "A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out...

    1. (intransitive, of a body, person, etc) To move about an axis through itself.

    2. (transitive) To change the direction or orientation of, especially by rotation.

      • Turn the knob clockwise.
      • It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the...
      • Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the...

    3. (intransitive) To change one's direction of travel.

      • She turned right at the corner.
      • I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railroad station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me...
      • I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew,...

    4. (transitive) To shape (something) symmetrically by rotating it against a stationary cutting tool, as on a lathe.

      • She turned the table legs with care and precision.

    5. (by extension) To give form to; to shape or mould; to adapt.

      • […]the Poets pen turnes them to ſhapes,[…] - c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True...
      • […]he was perfectly well turned for the occupations of trade and commerce. - 1711 July 14 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “TUESDAY, July 4, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 108; republished in Alexander Chalmers,...
      • His limbs how turn’d! how broad his ſhoulders ſpread! - 1725, Homer, “Book VIII”, in [William Broome], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume II, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 145, line 148:

    6. (transitive) To direct or impel (something) into or out of a place.

      • Add sugar and butter, then turn the mixture into a dish.
      • The farmer turned the cows into a field.
      • You were not wont to turn young and beautiful suppliants from your office door. What is the real reason of this professional reluctance on your part? - 1927, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados Mysteries:

    7. (transitive) To position (something) by folding it, or using its folds.

      • turn the bed covers; turn the pages

    8. (transitive, figuratively) To navigate through a book or other printed material.

      • turn to page twenty; turn through the book

    9. (transitive) To twist or sprain.

      • I fell off my bike and turned my ankle severely.

    10. (transitive, cricket) Of a bowler, to make (the ball) move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.

    11. (intransitive, cricket) Of a ball, to move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.

  2. To change condition or attitude.
    • Near-synonyms: become, get, go, come, fall, grow, wax
    • The leaves turn brown in autumn.
    • When I asked him for the money, he turned nasty.

    Synonyms: become get go come fall grow wax

    1. (copulative) To become (often used with colors, clear sudden changes, weather and ages).

    2. (intransitive) To change the color of the leaves in the autumn.

      • The hillside behind our house isn't generally much to look at, but once all the trees turn it's gorgeous.

    3. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose.

      • Midas made everything turn to gold. He turned into a monster every full moon.
      • At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into...
      • Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With...

    4. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose.

      (intransitive) To sour or spoil; to go bad.

      • This milk has turned; it smells awful.

    5. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose.

      (transitive) To make acid or sour; to ferment; to curdle.

      • to turn cider or wine

    6. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose.

      (transitive, fantasy) To change (a person) into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc.

      • How long ago was he turned?
      • His companions had turned him on purpose. Annie, bless her heart, was immune. - 2017, Michael J. Totten, Into the Wasteland: A Zombie Novel:

    7. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose.

      (intransitive, fantasy) To transform into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc.

      • Bruce Banner turns when he is angry: he becomes the Hulk, an incredibly powerful green monster.

    8. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose.

      (transitive, slang, sometimes offensive) To change the sexual orientation or gender of another person, or otherwise awaken a sexual preference.

      • We may not be made gay or lesbian in the sense of being “turned” by some error in parenting or child rearing, but we are certainly biologically made and raised (most of us) by straights. - 2009 September 10, W. C....
      • An old homophobic fantasy has it that a gay man or lesbian can be “turned” by a fulfilling sexual encounter with someone of the opposite sex - 2023 May 15, Eliot Borenstein, Marvel Comics in the 1970s: The World Inside...

    9. To hinge; to depend.

      • The decision turns on a single fact.
      • […] Conditions of Peace certainly do turn upon Events of War. - 1711 December 8 (Gregorian calendar), [Jonathan Swift], “The Eighth Article of the Grand Alliance”, in The Conduct of the Allies, and of the Late Ministry,...

    10. To rebel; to go against something formerly tolerated.

      • The prisoners turned on the warden.
      • ‘You little Fool!’ returned her sister, shaking her with the sharp pull she gave her arm. ‘Have you no spirit at all? But that’s just the way! You have no self-respect, you have no becoming pride, just as you allow...

    11. To change personal condition.

      (professional wrestling) To change personalities, such as from being a face (good guy) to heel (bad guy) or vice versa.

    12. To change personal condition.

      (ambitransitive) To make or become giddy; said of the head or brain.

      • Ile looke no more, / Leaſt my braine turne,[…] - c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard,...

    13. To change personal condition.

      To sicken; to nauseate.

      • The sight turned my stomach.

    14. To change personal condition.

      To be nauseated; said of the stomach.

  3. To change one's course of action; to take a new approach.
    • And they made a calfe in thoſe dayes / and offered ſacrifice vnto the ymage / and reioyſed in the workes of theyr awne hondes. / Then God turned hym ſilfe / and gave them vp /[…] - 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The...
    • Turne from thy fierce wrath,[…] - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 32:12, columns 1–2:
    • The Mind receiving the Ideas, mentioned in the foregoing Chapter, from without, when it turns its view inward upon its ſelf,[…] - 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of Simple Ideas of Reflection”, in An Essay...
  4. To complete.
    • They say they can turn the parts in two days.
  5. To make (money); turn a profit.
    • We turned a pretty penny with that little scheme.
  6. Of a player, to go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
    • Liverpool introduced Carroll for Spearing and were rewarded after 64 minutes when he put them back in contention. Stewart Downing blocked Jose Bosingwa's attempted clearance, which fell into the path of Carroll. He...
  7. To undergo the process of turning on a lathe.
    • Ivory turns well.
  8. To bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery.
  9. To invert a type of the same thickness, as a temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.
  10. To translate.
    • to turn the Iliad
    • who turns a Persian tale for half a crown - 1735, Alexander Pope, The Prologue to the Satires:
  11. To magically or divinely repel undead.
  12. To carve vegetables into uniform barrel-like or American football-like shapes.
    • The hardest part of culinary school was learning to turn vegetables perfectly.

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-nos Proto-Indo-European *tórh₁nos Proto-Hellenic *tórnos Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos)bor. Latin tornus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin tornōbor. Proto-West Germanic *turnēn Old English turnian ▲ Latin tornō Old French tornerbor. Middle English turnen English turn From Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan (“to turn, rotate, revolve”), from Proto-West Germanic *turnēn (“to turn, lathe”) (also the source of German turnen and its derivatives) and Old French torner (“to turn”), both from Latin tornāre (“to round off, turn in a lathe”), from tornus (“lathe”), from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos, “turning-lathe: a tool used for making circles”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, rub by turning,...

Forms

turns turning turned turnt no-table-tags glossary turn turnest turnedst turneth -

Synonyms

rotate spin twirl steer swerve tack become get go rebel revolt lathe go bad go off sour spoil complete

Derived

beturn even a worm will turn mill-turn not know where to turn not know which way to turn please turn left please turn right stomach-turning the worm turns tilt-and-turn tilt-turn toss and turn turn a blind eye turn about turn a corner turn a deaf ear turn again turn against turn a hair turn a new leaf turn an honest penny turn a number of shades of red turn a page turn a phrase