Meaning of turn In English

• 0 to (cause to) move in a circle around a fixed point or line:

  • The earth turns on its axis once every 24 hours.

  • She turned on her toes, holding out her skirt.

  • The wheels started to turn (around).

  • Turn the steering wheel as quickly as you can.

  • She turned the doorknob and quietly opened the door.

  • Slowly, I turned the door handle.

• 1 to (cause to) change the direction in which you are facing or moving:

  • Turn right at the traffic lights.

  • The path twists and turns for the next half mile.

  • We have to turn down/into/up the next road on the right.

  • Plants tend to turn towards the source of light.

  • She turned to face him.

  • He turned round and waved to us.

  • He turned on his heel (= turned quickly to face the opposite direction) and left the room.

  • The person on my left turned to me and whispered "Not another speech!"

  • His wife tried to speak to him, but he turned his back (on her)/turned away (from her) (= moved so that his back, not his face, was towards her to show his anger).

  • At about three o'clock, the tide started to turn (= the sea started to come closer to or move away from the beach).

  • He turned his head to me to listen.

  • I'll just turn the car round and go back the way we came.

  • We watched until the car had turned (= gone around) the corner.

  • The army turned their guns on (= pointed them at and started to shoot at) the protesters.

  • She can turn (= perform) a somersault.

• 2 to move, or to move an object or page, so that a different side or surface is on the top:

  • Now turn the page, please, and start work on Exercise 2.

  • She turned the vase over to look for the price.

  • He turned over two or three pages.

  • She put out the light, turned over (= rolled in order to face in another direction) and went to sleep.

  • Now turn to (= open the book at) page 23 and look at the first paragraph.

• 3 to (cause to) become, change into, or come to be something:

  • The weather has suddenly turned cold.

  • When I refused to pay, he turned nasty.

  • She turned pale and started to shiver.

  • The mood of the meeting turned solemn when the extent of the problem became known.

  • The companies worked well together for a while, but eventually the relationship turned sour (= became bad).

  • Keele, pop star turned business tycoon, has launched a new range of cosmetics.

  • The dry weather turned the soil into/to concrete.

  • By the end of September, the leaves have started to turn (= become brown).

  • Her attitude turned from politely interested to enthusiastic during the course of our conversation.

  • She turned 18 last year.

  • It's just turned ten o'clock.

• 4 to use a control to switch a piece of equipment or a power or water supply on or off, or to increase or reduce what it is producing:

  • Turn off/out the light.

  • Who turned the TV on?

  • I asked him to turn down the heating.

  • Turn the sound up - I can't hear what they're saying.

  • The heater turns off (= can be switched off) using this switch.

• 5 to damage the muscles in the foot by suddenly twisting it too strongly:

  • She turned her ankle on the rocks and had to hobble back to camp.

• 6 to shape a piece of wood while it is attached to a machine that spins it:

  • a turned bowl

• 7 an opportunity or a duty to do something at a particular time or in a particular order, before or after other people:

  • Is it my turn yet?

  • [ + to infinitive ] I waited so long for my turn to see the careers adviser that I missed my bus.

  • It's your turn to do the dishes!

  • In this game if you give the wrong answer you have to miss a turn.

  • We take turns answering the phone.

  • Each of us takes a break in turn.

• 8 an action that causes something to move in a circle round a fixed point:

  • Give the screw a couple of turns to make sure it's tight.

• 9 a change in the direction in which you are moving or facing:

  • When you see the school on the left, make a right turn.

  • The path was full of twists and turns.

  • The tide is on the turn.

  • the turn of the tide

  • She was born around the turn of the century (= around 1900, 2000, etc.).

• 10 to develop in a particular way:

  • The battle for control of the company took an interesting turn today.

  • Events took an unexpected turn when her mother suddenly arrived.

  • Their relationship took a turn for the worse when he lost his job.

• 11 a stage act or performance:

  • The first couple of turns were children singing and dancing.

• 12 a slight illness, a strange feeling, or a nervous shock:

  • After the accident I started having funny turns.

  • It gave me quite a turn to see him after all these years.

• 13 to move or cause something to move in a circle around a central point or line:

  • [ I ] The earth turns on its axis once every 24 hours.

  • [ T ] She turned the doorknob and opened the door.

• 14 to change the direction in which you are facing or moving, or to cause someone or something to face or move in a different direction:

  • [ I ] They told us to turn right at the first traffic light.

  • [ T ] Turn your head this way so that you’re looking right at the camera.

  • [ I ] I turned to the person next to me and asked her what time it was.

  • [ T ] The car turned (= went around) the corner.

  • [ I ] fig. He felt desperate and didn’t know where to turn for help.

  • [ I ] I turned over (= changed how I was lying) and tried to sleep, but quickly gave up.

  • [ T ] He turned the pages of a magazine.

  • [ M ] She turned the baby over onto his stomach.

• 15 to become or cause to become, change, or come to be:

  • [ L ] The weather suddenly turned colder, and it started to rain.

  • [ I ] By mid-September, the leaves are starting to turn (= change color).

  • [ L ] He turned red with embarrassment.

  • [ L ] My little girl just turned six in February.

• 16 to use a control to switch a piece of equipment on or off, or to adjust it to change the amount of what it is producing:

  • [ M ] Please turn off/out the lights when you leave.

  • [ M ] Who turned my computer on/off?

  • [ M ] Turn the TV down (= make the sound quieter) – it’s too loud.

  • [ M ] Turn up the volume – I can’t hear what they’re saying.

• 17 to damage the muscles in the foot by suddenly bending it too strongly:

  • to turn your ankle

• 18 to feel that you are going to vomit, or to cause your stomach to feel this way:

  • [ I/T ] The stench made my stomach turn.

• 19 an opportunity or a duty to do something at a particular time or in a particular order, before or after other people:

  • [ + to infinitive ] It’s your turn to do the grocery shopping.

• 20 a change in the direction in which you are moving or facing:

  • Make a left turn at the next traffic light.

• 21 the act of causing something to move in a circle around a fixed point:

  • This little wheel will shut off the water if you give it several turns.

• 22 to change into something or make something change into something:

  • turn sth into sth These machines can turn a computer design into a 3-D prototype in minutes.

  • With some wise internet trading, he managed to turn $68,000 into $100,000 in three years.

• 23 to change direction, or to make something change direction:

  • The first quarter could see a further decline in retail customers, though executives said they were confident the trend will turn.

  • turn negative/positive Sales are expected to turn positive in the first quarter of next year.

  • turn higher/lower

• 24 to make something the opposite of what it was previously:

  • The internet turned the world of flight booking on its head.

• 25 to make a profit:

  • The business was set up five years ago but is still struggling to turn a profit.

• 26 to find a way of getting something positive out of a bad situation:

  • Experienced long-term investors can turn an economic downturn to their advantage.

• 27 to refuse to be involved in something that you were previously involved in:

  • He said the country could not turn its back on globalization.

• 28 a change in the way something such as prices, rates, or the economy is behaving:

  • It is too early to know whether the economy has reached a turn in the cycle.

  • take a turn for the better/worse Media stocks took a turn for the better.

  • bad/downward/upward turn The figures have taken a downward turn.

• 29 the profit from an investment:

  • The shares were picked up by investors looking to make a quick turn on their money.

• 30 the difference between a trader’s buying price and selling price for particular shares, currencies, etc.