turn

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: tûrn, IPA^(key): /tɜːn/
• (General American) enPR: tûrn, IPA^(key): /tɜɹn/

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• Homophones: tern, tarn
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n

From Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan (“to turn, rotate, revolve”) 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, turn, twist, bore”). Cognate with Old English þrāwan (“to turn, twist, wind”), whence English throw. Displaced native Middle English wenden from Old English wendan (see wend), and Middle English trenden from Old English trendan (see trend), among several other terms.

turn (third-person singular simple present turns, present participle turning, simple past and past participle turned or (obsolete) turnt)

1. 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:

        "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], “The First Gun”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 9–10:

        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.

      • 2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:

        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 blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.

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

      She turned right at the corner.

      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 12:

        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 to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.

      • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

        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, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

   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.
      • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 159, column 1:

        […] the Poets pen turnes them to ſhapes, […]

      • 1711 July 15 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 108; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 85:

        […] he was perfectly well turned for the occupations of trade and commerce.

        The spelling has been modernized.

      • 1725, Homer, “Book VIII”, in [William Broome], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume II, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 145, line 148:

        His limbs how turn’d! how broad his ſhoulders ſpread!

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

      turn the bed covers;  turn the pages

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

      turn to page twenty;  turn through the book

   8. (transitive) To twist or sprain.

      I fell off my bike and turned my ankle severely.

   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. (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.

      • 1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, page 39:

        Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd.

      • 2007, Junius P. Rodriguez, Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World:

        The former-slaves-turned-abolitionists Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano were the chief organizers of the Sons of Africa.

      • 2012 April 21, Jonathan Jurejko, “Newcastle 3-0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:

        The midfielder turned provider moments later, his exquisite reverse pass perfectly weighted for Cisse to race on to and slide past Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic.

   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 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Silverside”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 300:

        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.

      • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

        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 more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

      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. (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.

   4. To reach a certain age.

      Charlie turns six on September 29.

   5. To hinge; to depend.

      The decision turns on a single fact.

      • 1711 December 8, [Jonathan Swift], “The Eighth Article of the Grand Alliance”, in The Conduct of the Allies, and of the Late Ministry, in Beginning and Carrying on the Present War, 4th edition, London: […] John Morphew […], published 1711, →OCLC, page 72:

        […] 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.

      • 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC:

        ‘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 yourself to be followed about by a contemptible little Chivery of a thing,’ with the scornfullest emphasis, ‘you would let your family be trodden on, and never turn.’

   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 […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii], page 302, column 2:

           Ile looke no more, / Leaſt my braine turne, […]

      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, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts vij:[41–42], folio clxiij, verso:

     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 / […]

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 32:12, columns 1–2:

     Turne from thy fierce wrath, […]

   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of Simple Ideas of Reflection”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book II, § 1, page 51:

     The Mind receiving the Ideas, mentioned in the foregoing Chapter, from without, when it turns its view inward upon its ſelf, […]

   • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, “Anarchy”, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, →OCLC, page 18:

     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.
   • 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:

     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 turned John Terry superbly before firing high past Cech.

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

    • 1735, Alexander Pope, The Prologue to the Satires:

      who turns a Persian tale for half a crown

11. (transitive, roleplaying games) To magically or divinely repel undead.

• (move around an axis through itself): rotate, spin, twirl
• (change the direction or orientation of): rotate
• (change one's direction of travel): steer, swerve, tack
• (nautical)
• (position (something) by folding it back on itself):
• (become): become, get, go
• (rebel): rebel, revolt
• (shape on a lathe): lathe
• (go bad): go bad, go off, sour, spoil
• (complete): complete

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

turn (plural turns)

A: Turn (16)
B: Round turn
C: Two round turns

1. A change of direction or orientation.

   Give the handle a turn, then pull it.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     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.

   Synonym: promenade

4. A chance to use (something) shared in sequence with others.

   They took turns playing with the new toy.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     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.

   Synonym: turnaround

9. A fit or a period of giddiness.

   I've had a funny turn.

   • 1865 September 23, “Mrs. Brown and the Emperor of the French”, in Fun‎, London: Published (for the proprietors) by Thomas Baker, →OCLC, page 17:

     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, […]

   • 1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Last Night”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 78–79:

     '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 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.
    • 1875, Marcus Clarke, “Typhus Fever”, in His Natural Life [For the Term of His Natural Life], volume I, London: Richard Bentley and Son, →OCLC, page 100:

      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, theater, especially physical comedy) A short skit, act, or routine.
    • 1960, Theatre Notebook, volumes 14-16, page 122:

      Between the pieces were individual turns, comic songs and dances.

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 […]

• (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):

• See also turning

• → Japanese: ターン (tān)

• Appendix:Parts of the knot
• ornament
• trill

• runt

Borrowed from English turn.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtøːn/, [ˈt̪ø̞ːn]

turn

1. (poker) turn (fourth communal card in Texas hold'em)