turn

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

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

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”). Displaced native Old English cyrran.

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

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, page 048:

        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.

      • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 2, in The Celebrity:

        I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway 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. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

        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. (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.
      • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

        The poet's pen turns them to shapes.

      • (Can we date this quote?) Joseph Addison

        He was perfectly well turned for trade.

      • (Can we date this quote?) Alexander Pope

        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.

      • 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. 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.

      • 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

   4. To reach a certain age.

      Charlie turns six on September 29.

   5. To hinge; to depend.

      The decision turns on a single fact.

      • (Can we date this quote?) Jonathan Swift

        Conditions of peace certainly 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.
         • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

           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 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 […]

   • Bible, Exodus xxxii. 12

     Turn from thy fierce wrath.

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Locke

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

   • 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.
   • 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

    • (Can we date this quote?) Alexander Pope

      who turns a Persian tale for half a crown

11. (transitive, role-playing games) To magically or divinely attack 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 (15)
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, 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 single loop of a coil.
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. 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. (also turnaround) The time required to complete a project.

   They quote a three-day turn on parts like those.

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 752198897, 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, 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.

    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. (rope) A pass behind or through an object.
16. 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.

17. (soccer) An instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
18. (circus, theater, especially physical comedy) A short skit, act, or routine.

• (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

• Appendix:Parts of the knot
• ornament
• trill

• runt

From Latin turris (“tower”). Cognate with Danish tårn and German Turm. First appears in the 12th or 13th century.

• IPA^(key): /tʰʏrtn/
• Rhymes: -ʏrtn

turn m (genitive singular turns, nominative plural turnar)

1. tower

From the verb turne; compare with German Turnen.

• IPA^(key): /tʉːɳ/
• Rhymes: -ʉːɳ

turn m (indeclinable) (uncountable)

1. gymnastics (athletic discipline)

• gymnastikk
• turner

• “turn” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From the verb turne

turn m (uncountable)

1. gymnastics (athletic discipline)

• gymnastikk

• “turn” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from German Turm, from Latin turrem, accusative form of turris.

• IPA^(key): /turn/

turn n (plural turnuri)

1. tower
2. (chess) rook

• (chess rook): tură