turn coat

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

1. Alternative form of turn one's coat
   • 1995, Peter Ward Fay, The Forgotten Army, →ISBN, page 5:

     They couldn't believe Indian soldiers who'd eaten the King's salt and been proud to serve in the army generation after generation could be suborned like that, buy their way out of prison camp by turning coat, come armed hand in hand with the Japs to fight their own countrymen, fight the very officers who had trained them, cared for them and earned their respect.

   • 2015, Stacy Schiff, The Witches, →ISBN, page 229:

     He resigned, recused himself, sidestepped, and turned coat more than anyone else of his time; in seventeenth-century New England terms, it was as if, through the years of captivity, he had played both Moses and Pharoah's adviser.

   • 2016, Alison Stuart, Exile's Return, →ISBN:

     Was this the price demanded of Kit for turning coat?

turn coat (plural turn coats)

1. Alternative form of turncoat
   • 2011, Simma Leslie, The Sister and Mcguire, →ISBN:

     That was why he knew in his mind she was a turn coat.

   • 2011, John D. Schalcosky, Ross Township, →ISBN:

     Because of this and various other reasons, the early soldiers and generals at Fort Pitt considered him a “turn coat” and renegade traitor of the Americans.

   • 2015, James Colson, The Forever Man: Modern Day Templar Knights, →ISBN:

     We spoiled an attack on members of our team and reduced the number of turn coats by fourteen.