English
turn
Pronunciation Verb

turn (turns, present participle turning; past and past participle turned)

  1. (heading) to make a non-linear physical movement.
    1. (intransitive) Of a body, person, etc, to move around an axis through itself.
      the Earth turns;  turn on the spot
      • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314 ↗, page 0124 ↗:
        "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 there. […]."
    2. (transitive) To change the direction or orientation of, especially by rotation.
      Turn the knob clockwise.
      • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175 ↗:
        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 back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
    3. (intransitive) to change one's direction of travel.
      She turned right at the corner.
    4. (intransitive, figuratively) to change the course of.
    5. (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.
    6. (by extension) To give form to; to shape or mould; to adapt.
      • c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene i]:
        The poet's pen turns them to shapes.
      • He was perfectly well turned for trade.
      • 1725, Homer; [Alexander Pope], transl., “Book 8”, in The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume V, London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, OCLC 8736646 ↗:
        His limbs how turned, how broad his shoulders spread!
    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, cricket) Of a bowler, to make (the ball) move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.
    10. (intransitive, cricket) Of a ball, to move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.
  2. (heading, intransitive) To change condition or attitude.
    1. (copulative) To become begin to be.
      Synonyms: become, get
      The leaves turn brown in autumn. When I asked him for the money, he turned nasty.
    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.
      • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326 ↗:
        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 pabulum.
      1. (intransitive) To sour or spoil; to go bad.
        This milk has turned; it smells awful.
      2. (transitive) To make acid or sour; to ferment; to curdle.
        to turn cider or wine
      3. (transitive, fantasy) To change (a person) into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc.
        How long ago was he turned?
        • 2017, Michael J. Totten, Into the Wasteland: A Zombie Novel
          His companions had turned him on purpose. Annie, bless her heart, was immune.
    4. To reach a certain age.
      Charlie turns six on September 29.
    5. To hinge; to depend.
      The decision turns on a single fact.
      • 1712, Jonathan Swift, The Conduct of the Allies, and of the late Ministry, in beginning and carrying on the present War
        Conditions of peace certainly do turn upon events of war.
    6. To rebel; to go against something formerly tolerated.
      The prisoners turned on the warden.
    7. To change personal condition.
      1. (professional wrestling) To change personalities, such as from being a face (good guy) to heel (bad guy) or vice versa.
      2. To become giddy; said of the head or brain.
        • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene vii]:
          I'll look no more; / Lest my brain turn.
      3. To sicken; to nauseate.
        The sight turned my stomach.
      4. To be nauseated; said of the stomach.
  3. (obsolete, reflexive) To change one's course of action; to take a new approach.
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts of the Apostles VII:
      And they made a calfe in those dayes, and offered sacrifice unto the ymage, and reioysed in the workes of theyr awne hondes. Then God turned himsilfe, and gave them up […]
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Exodus 32:12 ↗:
      Turn from thy fierce wrath.
    • 1689 (indicated as 1690)​, [John Locke], An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Thomas Basset, […], OCLC 153628242 ↗:
      , Book II, Chapter VI
      The mind receiving the ideas mentioned in the foregoing chapters from without, when it turns its view inward upon itself
    • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter I, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, OCLC 40817384 ↗:
      Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence.
  4. (transitive, usually with over) To complete.
    They say they can turn the parts in two days.
  5. (transitive) To make (money); turn a profit.
    We turned a pretty penny with that little scheme.
  6. (transitive, soccer) Of a player, to go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control#Noun|control.
  7. To undergo the process of turning on a lathe.
    Ivory turns well.
  8. (obstetrics) To bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery.
  9. (printing, dated) To invert a type of the same thickness, as a temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.
  10. (archaic) To translate.
    to turn the Iliad
    • who turns a Persian tale for half a crown
  11. (transitive, role-playing games) To magically or divinely attack undead.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • Portuguese: girar
  • Russian: свора́чивать
Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • German: wenden
  • Portuguese: rebelar-se
  • Russian: восстава́ть
  • Spanish: rebelar (pronominal)
Translations Translations
  • Portuguese: estragar
  • Russian: свора́чиваться
Translations Translations
  • German: sich verfärben
  • Spanish: estivescer
Noun

turn (plural turns)

  1. A change of direction or orientation.
    Give the handle a turn, then pull it.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314 ↗, page 0025 ↗:
      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.
    Synonyms: promenade
    Let's take a turn in the garden.
  4. A chance to use (something) shared in sequence with others.
    They took turns playing with the new toy.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314 ↗, page 0025 ↗:
      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.
    Synonyms: turnaround
    They quote a three-day turn on parts like those.
  9. A fit or a period of giddiness.
    I've had a funny turn.
    • 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde:
      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 in your marrow kind of cold and thin.
  10. A change in temperament or circumstance.
    She took a turn for the worse.
  11. (cricket) A sideways movement of the ball when it bounces (caused by rotation in flight).
  12. (poker) The fourth communal card in Texas hold 'em.
  13. (poker, obsolete) The flop (the first three community cards) in Texas hold 'em.
  14. A deed done to another; an act of kindness or malice.
    One good turn deserves another.
    I felt that the man was of a vindictive nature, and would do me an evil turn if he found the opportunity […].
  15. A single loop of a coil.
  16. (rope) A pass behind or through an object.
  17. Character; personality; nature.
    • 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Ch.VII:
      It was fortunate for his comfort, perhaps, that the man who had been chosen to accompany him was of a talkative turn, for the prisoners insisted upon hearing the story of the explosion a dozen times over, and Rufus Dawes himself had been roused to give the name of the vessel with his own lips.
  18. (soccer) An instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
  19. (circus, theatre, especially, physical comedy) A short skit, act, or routine.
  20. (printing, dated) A type turned upside down to serve for another character that is not available.
  21. (UK, finance, historical) The profit made by a stockjobber, being the difference between the buying and selling prices.
    • 1977, Michael Arthur Firth, Valuation of Shares and the Efficient-markets Theory (page 11)
      There are usually at least two jobbers who specialise in the leading stocks, and this acts to keep the jobber's turn to a reasonable amount […]
Synonyms
  • (change of direction or orientation)
  • (movement about an axis returning to the original orientation) 360° turn, complete rotation, complete turn, full rotation, full turn
  • (single loop of a coil) loop
  • (chance to use (something) shared in sequence with others): go
  • (one's chance to make a move in a game): go, move
  • (figure in music)
  • (time required to complete a project)
  • (fit or period of giddiness) dizziness, dizzy spell, giddiness
  • (change in temperament or circumstance) change, swing
  • (sideways movement of a cricket ball)
Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • German: paraphrased: take turns = abwechseln, (verb) an der Reihe sein be one's turn, (verb) dran sein be one's turn
  • Italian: turno
  • Portuguese: vez, turno
  • Russian: ход
  • Spanish: turno
Translations Translations
  • German: Doppelschlag
Translations Translations Translations

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