about-face
Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /əˈbaʊtˌfeɪs/
Noun

about-face (plural about-faces)

  1. (military) An abrupt turn to face the opposite direction.
    The soldier did an about-face and marched off.
  2. A reversal in direction; reversal of attitude or opinion.
    When Luke heard the news, he did an abrupt about-face on the policy.
Translations
  • French: (literal) demi-tour; (figurative) volte-face, revirement
  • Italian: dietro front, dietrofront
  • Portuguese: meia-volta
  • Russian: круго́м
  • Spanish: media vuelta, cambio de rumbo
Translations Verb

about-face (about-faces, present participle about-facing; past and past participle about-faced)

  1. (intransitive) To turn 180 degrees to face the opposite direction
    The soldiers would about-face immediately after the order was given.
  2. To change opinion or attitude drastically.
    A politician will about-face at the drop of a hat if he thinks there are votes in it.
Translations
  • French: faire demi-tour,
  • German: Kehrtwende machen
  • Italian: fare dietrofront
  • Spanish: dar la media vuelta, darse media vuelta
Translations
  • French: faire volte-face
  • Italian: fare il voltafaccia, fare il voltagabbana, cambiare casacca
  • Spanish: cambiar de rumbo



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