Definitions for: Turn


[n] taking a short walk out and back; "we took a turn in the park"
[n] turning or twisting around (in place); "with a quick twist of his head he surveyed the room"
[n] turning away or in the opposite direction; "he made an abrupt turn away from her"
[n] the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course; "he took a turn to the right"
[n] the activity of doing something in an agreed succession; "it is my turn"; "it is still my play"
[n] a favor for someone; "he did me a good turn"
[n] a short theatrical performance that is part of a longer program; "he did his act three times every evening"; "she had a catchy little routine"; "it was one of the best numbers he ever did"
[n] a movement in a new direction; "the turning of the wind"
[n] an unforeseen development; "events suddenly took an awkward turn"
[n] a time for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else); "it's my go"; "a spell of work"
[n] a circular segment of a curve; "a bend in the road"; "a crook in the path"
[n] (in sports) a period of play during which one team is on the offensive
[v] pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become;"The weather turned nasty"; "She grew angry"; "The teacher became impatient"
[v] twist suddenly so as to sprain; "wrench one's ankle"; "The wrestler twisted his shoulder"; "the hikers sprained their ankles when they fell"; "I turned my ankle and couldn't walk for several days"
[v] change to the contrary; "The trend was reversed"; "the tides turned against him"; "public opinion turned when it was revealed that the president had an affair with a White House intern"
[v] undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election"
[v] become officially one year older; "She is turning 50 this year"
[v] change color, as of leaves in the Fall; "In Vermont, the leaves turn early"
[v] go sour or spoil; "The milk has soured"; "The wine worked"; "The cream has turned--we have to throw it out"
[v] have recourse to or make an appeal or request for help or information to; "She called on her Representative to help her"; "She turned to her relatives for help"
[v] direct at someone; "She turned a smile on me"; "They turned their flashlights on the car"
[v] alter the functioning or setting of; "turn the dial to 10"; "turn the heat down"
[v] cause to assume a crooked or angular form; "bend the rod"; "twist the dough into a braid"; "the strong man could turn an iron bar"
[v] let (something) fall or spill a container; "turn the flour onto a plate"
[v] shape by rotating on a lathe or cutting device or a wheel; "turn the legs of the table"; "turn the clay on the wheel"
[v] to break and turn over earth esp. with a plow; "Farmer Jones plowed his east field last week"; "turn the earth in the Spring"
[v] change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense; "Turn towards me"; "The mugger turned and fled before I could see his face"; "She turned from herself and learned to listen to others' needs"
[v] pass to the other side of; "turn the corner"; "move around the obstacle"
[v] channel one's attention, interest, thought, or attention toward or away from something; "The pedophile turned to boys for satisfaction"; "people turn to mysticism at the turn of a millenium"
[v] to send or let go; "They turned away the crowd at the gate of the governor's mansion"
[v] cause to move around a center so as to show another side of; "turn a page of a book"
[v] cause to move around or rotate; "turn a key"; "turn your palm this way"
[v] cause to move along an axis or into a new direction; "turn your face to the wall"; "turn the car around"; "turn your dance partner around"
[v] move around an axis or a center; "The wheels are turning"
[v] get by buying and selling; "the company turned a good profit after a year"
[v] accomplish by rotating; "turn a somersault"; "turn cartwheels"
[v] undergo a change or development; "The water turned into ice"; "Her former friend became her worst enemy"; "He turned traitor"
[v] cause to change or turn into something different;assume new characteristics; "The princess turned the frog into a prince by kissing him"; "The alchemists tried to turn lead into gold"



Webster (1913) Definition: (Elec.)
A unit equal to the product of one complete convolution (of a
coiled conductor) into one amp[`e]re of current; thus, a
conductor having five convolutions and carrying a current of
half an amp[`e]re is said to have 21/2 amp[`e]re turns. The
magnetizing effect of a coil is proportional to the number of
its amp[`e]re turns.


Turn, v. t.
To make a turn about or around (something); to go or pass
around by turning; as, to turn a corner.

The ranges are not high or steep, and one can turn a
kopje instead of cutting or tunneling through it.
--James Bryce.

To turn turtle, to capsize bottom upward; -- said of a
vessel. [Naut. slang] -- To turn under (Agric.), to put,
as soil, manure, etc., underneath from the surface by
plowing, digging, or the like.


Turn, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Turned; p. pr. & vb. n.
Turning.] [OE. turnen, tournen, OF. tourner, torner,
turner, F. tourner, LL. tornare, fr. L. tornare to turn in a
lathe, to rounds off, fr. tornus a lathe, Gr. ? a turner's
chisel, a carpenter's tool for drawing circles; probably akin
to E. throw. See Throw, and cf. Attorney, Return,
Tornado, Tour, Tournament.]
1. To cause to move upon a center, or as if upon a center; to
give circular motion to; to cause to revolve; to cause to
move round, either partially, wholly, or repeatedly; to
make to change position so as to present other sides in
given directions; to make to face otherwise; as, to turn a
wheel or a spindle; to turn the body or the head.

Turn the adamantine spindle round. --Milton.

The monarch turns him to his royal guest. --Pope.

2. To cause to present a different side uppermost or outmost;
to make the upper side the lower, or the inside to be the
outside of; to reverse the position of; as, to turn a box
or a board; to turn a coat.

3. To give another direction, tendency, or inclination to; to
direct otherwise; to deflect; to incline differently; --
used both literally and figuratively; as, to turn the eyes
to the heavens; to turn a horse from the road, or a ship
from her course; to turn the attention to or from
something. ``Expert when to advance, or stand, or, turn
the sway of battle.'' --Milton.

Thrice I deluded her, and turned to sport Her
importunity. --Milton.

My thoughts are turned on peace. --Addison.

4. To change from a given use or office; to divert, as to
another purpose or end; to transfer; to use or employ; to
apply; to devote.

Therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto
David. --1 Chron. x.
14.

God will make these evils the occasion of a greater
good, by turning them to advantage in this world.
--Tillotson.

When the passage is open, land will be turned most
to cattle; when shut, to sheep. --Sir W.
Temple.

5. To change the form, quality, aspect, or effect of; to
alter; to metamorphose; to convert; to transform; -- often
with to or into before the word denoting the effect or
product of the change; as, to turn a worm into a winged
insect; to turn green to blue; to turn prose into verse;
to turn a Whig to a Tory, or a Hindu to a Christian; to
turn good to evil, and the like.

The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have
compassion upon thee. --Deut. xxx.
3.

And David said, O Lord, I pray thee, turn the
counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. --2 Sam. xv.
31.

Impatience turns an ague into a fever. --Jer.
Taylor.

6. To form in a lathe; to shape or fashion (anything) by
applying a cutting tool to it while revolving; as, to turn
the legs of stools or tables; to turn ivory or metal.

I had rather hear a brazen canstick turned. --Shak.

7. Hence, to give form to; to shape; to mold; to put in
proper condition; to adapt. ``The poet's pen turns them to
shapes.'' --Shak.

His limbs how turned, how broad his shoulders spread
! --Pope.

He was perfectly well turned for trade. --Addison.

8. Specifically:
(a) To translate; to construe; as, to turn the Iliad.

Who turns a Persian tale for half a crown.
--Pope.
(b) To make acid or sour; to ferment; to curdle, etc.: as,
to turn cider or wine; electricity turns milk quickly.
(c) To sicken; to nauseate; as, an emetic turns one's
stomach.

To be turned of, be advanced beyond; as, to be turned of
sixty-six.

To turn a cold shoulder to, to treat with neglect or
indifference.

To turn a corner, to go round a corner.



To turn adrift, to cast off, to cease to care for.

To turn a flange (Mech.), to form a flange on, as around a
metal sheet or boiler plate, by stretching, bending, and
hammering, or rolling the metal.

To turn against.
(a) To direct against; as, to turn one's arguments against
himself.
(b) To make unfavorable or hostile to; as, to turn one's
friends against him.

To turn a hostile army, To turn the enemy's flank, or the
like (Mil.), to pass round it, and take a position behind
it or upon its side.

To turn a penny, or To turn an honest penny, to make a
small profit by trade, or the like.

To turn around one's finger, to have complete control of
the will and actions of; to be able to influence at
pleasure.

To turn aside, to avert.

To turn away.
(a) To dismiss from service; to discard; as, to turn away
a servant.
(b) To avert; as, to turn away wrath or evil.

To turn back.
(a) To give back; to return.

We turn not back the silks upon the merchants,
When we have soiled them. --Shak.
(b) To cause to return or retrace one's steps; hence, to
drive away; to repel. --Shak.

To turn down.
(a) To fold or double down.
(b) To turn over so as to conceal the face of; as, to turn
down cards.
(c) To lower, or reduce in size, by turning a valve,
stopcock, or the like; as, turn down the lights.

To turn in.
(a) To fold or double under; as, to turn in the edge of
cloth.
(b) To direct inwards; as, to turn the toes in when
walking.
(c) To contribute; to deliver up; as, he turned in a large
amount. [Colloq.]

To turn in the mind, to revolve, ponder, or meditate upon;
-- with about, over, etc. `` Turn these ideas about in
your mind.'' --I. Watts.

To turn off.
(a) To dismiss contemptuously; as, to turn off a sycophant
or a parasite.
(b) To give over; to reduce.
(c) To divert; to deflect; as, to turn off the thoughts
from serious subjects; to turn off a joke.
(d) To accomplish; to perform, as work.
(e) (Mech.) To remove, as a surface, by the process of
turning; to reduce in size by turning.
(f) To shut off, as a fluid, by means of a valve,
stopcock, or other device; to stop the passage of; as,
to turn off the water or the gas.



To turn on, to cause to flow by turning a valve, stopcock,
or the like; to give passage to; as, to turn on steam.



To turn one's coat, to change one's uniform or colors; to
go over to the opposite party.

To turn one's goods or money, and the like, to exchange
in the course of trade; to keep in lively exchange or
circulation; to gain or increase in trade.

To turn one's hand to, to adapt or apply one's self to; to
engage in.

To turn out.
(a) To drive out; to expel; as, to turn a family out of
doors; to turn a man out of office.

I'll turn you out of my kingdom. -- Shak.
(b) to put to pasture, as cattle or horses.
(c) To produce, as the result of labor, or any process of
manufacture; to furnish in a completed state.
(d) To reverse, as a pocket, bag, etc., so as to bring the
inside to the outside; hence, to produce.
(e) To cause to cease, or to put out, by turning a
stopcock, valve, or the like; as, to turn out the
lights.

To turn over.
(a) To change or reverse the position of; to overset; to
overturn; to cause to roll over.
(b) To transfer; as, to turn over business to another
hand.
(c) To read or examine, as a book, while, turning the
leaves. ``We turned o'er many books together.''
--Shak.
(d) To handle in business; to do business to the amount
of; as, he turns over millions a year. [Colloq.]

To turn over a new leaf. See under Leaf.

To turn tail, to run away; to retreat ignominiously.

To turn the back, to flee; to retreat.

To turn the back on or

upon, to treat with contempt; to reject or refuse
unceremoniously.

To turn the corner, to pass the critical stage; to get by
the worst point; hence, to begin to improve, or to
succeed.

To turn the die or dice, to change fortune.

To turn the edge or point of, to bend over the edge or
point of so as to make dull; to blunt.

To turn the head or brain of, to make giddy, wild,
insane, or the like; to infatuate; to overthrow the reason
or judgment of; as, a little success turned his head.

To turn the scale or balance, to change the
preponderance; to decide or determine something doubtful.


To turn the stomach of, to nauseate; to sicken.

To turn the tables, to reverse the chances or conditions of
success or superiority; to give the advantage to the
person or side previously at a disadvantage.

To turn tippet, to make a change. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.

To turn to profit, advantage, etc., to make profitable or
advantageous.

To turn up.
(a) To turn so as to bring the bottom side on top; as, to
turn up the trump.
(b) To bring from beneath to the surface, as in plowing,
digging, etc.
(c) To give an upward curve to; to tilt; as, to turn up
the nose.

To turn upon, to retort; to throw back; as, to turn the
arguments of an opponent upon himself.

To turn upside down, to confuse by putting things awry; to
throw into disorder.

This house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler
died. --Shak.


Turn, v. i.
1. To move round; to have a circular motion; to revolve
entirely, repeatedly, or partially; to change position, so
as to face differently; to whirl or wheel round; as, a
wheel turns on its axis; a spindle turns on a pivot; a man
turns on his heel.

The gate . . . on golden hinges turning. --Milton.

2. Hence, to revolve as if upon a point of support; to hinge;
to depend; as, the decision turns on a single fact.

Conditions of peace certainly turn upon events of
war. --Swift.

3. To result or terminate; to come about; to eventuate; to
issue.

If we repent seriously, submit contentedly, and
serve him faithfully, afflictions shall turn to our
advantage. --Wake.

4. To be deflected; to take a different direction or
tendency; to be directed otherwise; to be differently
applied; to be transferred; as, to turn from the road.

Turn from thy fierce wrath. --Ex. xxxii.
12.

Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways. --Ezek.
xxxiii. 11.

The understanding turns inward on itself, and
reflects on its own operations. --Locke.

5. To be changed, altered, or transformed; to become
transmuted; also, to become by a change or changes; to
grow; as, wood turns to stone; water turns to ice; one
color turns to another; to turn Mohammedan.

I hope you have no intent to turn husband. --Shak.

Cygnets from gray turn white. --Bacon.

6. To undergo the process of turning on a lathe; as, ivory
turns well.

7. Specifically:
(a) To become acid; to sour; -- said of milk, ale, etc.
(b) To become giddy; -- said of the head or brain.

I'll look no more; Lest my brain turn. --Shak.
(c) To be nauseated; -- said of the stomach.
(d) To become inclined in the other direction; -- said of
scales.
(e) To change from ebb to flow, or from flow to ebb; --
said of the tide.
(f) (Obstetrics) To bring down the feet of a child in the
womb, in order to facilitate delivery.

8. (Print.) To invert a type of the same thickness, as
temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.

To turn about, to face to another quarter; to turn around.


To turn again, to come back after going; to return. --Shak.

To turn against, to become unfriendly or hostile to.

To turn aside or away.
(a) To turn from the direct course; to withdraw from a
company; to deviate.
(b) To depart; to remove.
(c) To avert one's face.

To turn back, to turn so as to go in an opposite direction;
to retrace one's steps.

To turn in.
(a) To bend inward.
(b) To enter for lodgings or entertainment.
(c) To go to bed. [Colloq.]

To turn into, to enter by making a turn; as, to turn into a
side street.

To turn off, to be diverted; to deviate from a course; as,
the road turns off to the left.

To turn on or upon.
(a) To turn against; to confront in hostility or anger.
(b) To reply to or retort.
(c) To depend on; as, the result turns on one condition.


To turn out.
(a) To move from its place, as a bone.
(b) To bend or point outward; as, his toes turn out.
(c) To rise from bed. [Colloq.]
(d) To come abroad; to appear; as, not many turned out to
the fire.
(e) To prove in the result; to issue; to result; as, the
crops turned out poorly.

To turn over, to turn from side to side; to roll; to
tumble.

To turn round.
(a) To change position so as to face in another direction.
(b) To change one's opinion; to change from one view or
party to another.

To turn to, to apply one's self to; have recourse to; to
refer to. ``Helvicus's tables may be turned to on all
occasions.'' --Locke.

To turn to account, profit, advantage, or the like, to
be made profitable or advantageous; to become worth the
while.

To turn under, to bend, or be folded, downward or under.

To turn up.
(a) To bend, or be doubled, upward.
(b) To appear; to come to light; to transpire; to occur;
to happen.


Turn, n.
1. The act of turning; movement or motion about, or as if
about, a center or axis; revolution; as, the turn of a
wheel.

2. Change of direction, course, or tendency; different order,
position, or aspect of affairs; alteration; vicissitude;
as, the turn of the tide.

At length his complaint took a favorable turn.
--Macaulay.

The turns and varieties of all passions. --Hooker.

Too well the turns of mortal chance I know. --Pope.

3. One of the successive portions of a course, or of a series
of occurrences, reckoning from change to change; hence, a
winding; a bend; a meander.

And all its [the river's] thousand turns disclose.
Some fresher beauty varying round. --Byron.

4. A circuitous walk, or a walk to and fro, ending where it
began; a short walk; a stroll.

Come, you and I must walk a turn together. --Shak.

I will take a turn in your garden. --Dryden.

5. Successive course; opportunity enjoyed by alternation with
another or with others, or in due order; due chance;
alternate or incidental occasion; appropriate time.
``Nobleness and bounty . . . had their turns in his [the
king's] nature.''

His turn will come to laugh at you again. --Denham.

Every one has a fair turn to be as great as he
pleases. --Collier.

6. Incidental or opportune deed or office; occasional act of
kindness or malice; as, to do one an ill turn.

Had I not done a friendes turn to thee? --Chaucer.

thanks are half lost when good turns are delayed.
--Fairfax.

7. Convenience; occasion; purpose; exigence; as, this will
not serve his turn.

I have enough to serve mine own turn. --Shak.

8. Form; cast; shape; manner; fashion; -- used in a literal
or figurative sense; hence, form of expression; mode of
signifying; as, the turn of thought; a man of a sprightly
turn in conversation.

The turn of both his expressions and thoughts is
unharmonious. --Dryden.

The Roman poets, in their description of a beautiful
man, often mention the turn of his neck and arms.
--Addison.

9. A change of condition; especially, a sudden or recurring
symptom of illness, as a nervous shock, or fainting spell;
as, a bad turn. [Colloq.]

10. A fall off the ladder at the gallows; a hanging; -- so
called from the practice of causing the criminal to stand
on a ladder which was turned over, so throwing him off,
when the signal was given. [Obs.]

11. A round of a rope or cord in order to secure it, as about
a pin or a cleat.

12. (Mining) A pit sunk in some part of a drift.

13. (Eng. Law) A court of record, held by the sheriff twice a
year in every hundred within his county. --Blount.

14. pl. (Med.) Monthly courses; menses. [Colloq.]

15. (Mus.) An embellishment or grace (marked thus, ?),
commonly consisting of the principal note, or that on
which the turn is made, with the note above, and the
semitone below, the note above being sounded first, the
principal note next, and the semitone below last, the
three being performed quickly, as a triplet preceding the
marked note. The turn may be inverted so as to begin with
the lower note, in which case the sign is either placed
on end thus ?, or drawn thus ?.

By turns.
(a) One after another; alternately; in succession.
(b) At intervals. ``[They] feel by turns the bitter
change.'' --Milton.

In turn, in due order of succession.

To a turn, exactly; perfectly; as, done to a turn; -- a
phrase alluding to the practice of cooking on a revolving
spit.

To take turns, to alternate; to succeed one another in due
order.

Turn and turn about, by equal alternating periods of
service or duty; by turns.

Turn bench, a simple portable lathe, used on a bench by
clock makers and watchmakers.

Turn buckle. See Turnbuckle, in Vocabulary.

Turn cap, a sort of chimney cap which turns round with the
wind so as to present its opening to the leeward. --G.
Francis.

Turn of life (Med.), change of life. See under Change.

Turn screw, a screw driver.

Synonyms: act, become, bend, bend, bit, bout, call on, change by reversal, crook, deform, go, good turn, grow, move around, number, play, plough, plow, release, reverse, rick, round, routine, spell, sprain, tour, turn of events, turning, turning, twist, twist, twist, twist, wrench, wrick

Antonyms: unbend

See Also: about-face, acetify, acidify, acquire, activity, add up, address, age, aim, alkalify, alkalise, alkalize, alter, alternate, ameliorate, amount, apparel, appeal, arouse, at-bat, attack, avert, awake, awaken, backtrack, bald, basify, bat, be born, bend, better, bight, black out, boil, boil down, bottom, bottom of the inning, break, break loose, burn, burst forth, calcify, calm, calm down, caracole, carbonise, carbonize, carburise, carburize, carnify, catalyze, catch fire, change, change, change form, change of course, change of direction, change shape, channel, channelise, channelize, chill, chill out, choke, chondrify, circumvolve, citrate, clabber, close, clot, clothe, cloud over, coagulate, coil, coke, color, colour, combust, come, come alive, come down, come to, coming back, commutate, commute, conceive, concentrate, conflagrate, control, convolute, convolve, cool, cool down, cool it, cool off, corkscrew, corner, correct, crank, cross-fertilise, cross-fertilize, curdle, curve, curve, curved shape, cut, cut, cut into, decease, decline, decompress, deconsecrate, deflate, deflect, deflection, deflexion, delve, denitrify, dent, desecrate, desynchronise, desynchronize, development, deviate, deviation, devitrify, die, dig, digression, direct, direct, discharge, discolor, discolour, disengage, disk, displace, dissolve, divagation, diversion, divert, do, double back, down, dress, duty period, emaciate, emancipate, empty, emulsify, enclothe, equilibrate, erupt, esterify, etherify, evert, exchange, exit, expire, explode, face, fade away, fade out, fall, falsify, favor, favour, ferment, fill, fill up, fit out, fligh high, flip, flip, flip over, flip-flop, flourish, fluctuate, form, freeze, Frenchify, gain, game, garb, garment, gee, get, get, get into, get on, get worse, gnarl, go, go, go around, gyrate, gyration, habilitate, harrow, heat, heat up, homogenise, homogenize, hot up, ignite, improve, incurvate, indent, injure, innings, inspissate, integrate, interchange, invoke, ionise, ionize, kick turn, lead, leaf, left, liberate, liquefy, locomote, loosen up, lose weight, maturate, mature, meliorate, melt off, metamorphose, metamorphose, motion, move, move, movement, nucleate, open, open up, operate, ossify, overgrow, overturn, pass, pass away, pass out, perform, performance, period of play, perish, permute, pick up, piss off, pivot, play, playing period, port, precipitate, pronate, prosper, public presentation, put off, put on, raiment, react, rectify, reduce, reduce, regress, relapse, relax, reorient, reorientation, resuscitate, retrovert, return, return, reversal, revert, revive, revolution, revolve, ridge, right, right, roll, roll over, rotate, rotation, rotation, ruff, secularise, secularize, send, settle down, sheer, shift, show-stopper, shut, simmer down, slenderize, slew, slim, slim down, slow down, slue, solvate, sorb, sour, spiral, splay, spread out, start, starting, stem, stem turn, stopper, suffocate, supinate, swerve, swerve, swerve, swerving, swing about, swing around, switch, switch off, switch on, switch over, swivel, tack, take, take aim, take fire, take up, take up, tangle with, telemark, tense, tense up, thicken, thin, three-point turn, thrive, thrombose, throw, till, tip over, tog, top, top of the inning, toss, train, transfer, transfigure, transform, transmit, transmogrify, transmute, transport, transpose, travel, trend, trumping, turn around, turn around, turn around, turn away, turn back, turn back, turn off, turn off, turn on, turn on a dime, turn out, turn out, turn over, turn over, turn the tables, turn the tide, turn to, twiddle, twist, unbend, undo, unwind, veer, veering, version, volution, wake, wake up, waken, walk, work, work shift, worsen, wound, yaw, zonk out

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