turn
turn
/tɜːn/
move round
The wheels of the car began to turn.
I can't get the screw to turn.
+ adv./prep. The blades of the helicopter were turning slowly.
turn something I turned the knob and pushed the door open.
turn something + adv./prep. He turned the key in the lock.
She turned the wheel sharply to the left.
change position/direction
2 intransitive, transitive to move your body or part of your body so as to face or start moving in a different direction We turned and headed for home.
turn to do something She turned to look at me.
+ adv./prep. He turned back to his work.
I turned away and looked out of the window.
turn something + adv./prep. He turned his back to the wall.
I turned my face to the sky.
She turned her head away.
turn something I only turned my back for a second.
Lee turned to face her.
While his back was turned (= towards me) I sneaked a look at his notes.
3 transitive turn something + adv./prep. to move something so that it is in a different position or facing a different direction She turned the chair on its side to repair it.
Turn the sweater inside out before you wash it.
4 intransitive, transitive to change the direction you are moving or travelling in; to make something change the direction it is moving in turn into something He turned into a narrow street.
+ adv./prep. We turned down a dark alleyway.
turn left/right Turn left at the traffic lights.
turn something The man turned the corner and disappeared.
turn something into something I turned the car into the car park.
turn something + adv./prep. The pilot attempted to turn the aircraft towards a wooded area.
5 intransitive (+ adv./prep.) (of a road or river) to bend or curve in a particular direction The road turns to the left after the church.
After a while the path turns sharply right.
The river turns north at this point.
page
turn something He sat turning the pages idly.
turn to something Turn to p.23.
become
7 linking verb to change into a particular state or condition; to make something do this
+ adj. The leaves were turning brown.
They say her hair turned white overnight.
I could feel my face turn red with embarrassment.
The weather has turned cold.
He turned nasty when we refused to give him the money.
He decided to turn professional.
turn something + adj. The heat turned the milk sour.
+ noun She turned a deathly shade of white when she heard the news.
He's a lawyer turned politician (= he used to be a lawyer but is now a politician).
aim/point
turn something on somebody/something/yourself Police turned water cannon on the rioters.
He turned the gun on himself.
turn something to somebody/something/yourself She looked at him then turned her attention back to me.
turn to somebody/something/yourself His thoughts turned to his dead wife.
Don't turn your anger on the children.
Many supporters are now turning their criticism on the manager.
He tried to forget the events of past few days and turned his thoughts to practical tasks.
of tide in sea
The tide is turning—we'd better get back.
let somebody/something go
10 transitive to make or let somebody/something go into a particular place or state turn something + adv./prep. They turned the horse into the field.
turn something + adj. to turn the dogs loose
fold
11 transitive turn something + adv./prep. to fold something in a particular way She turned down the blankets and climbed into bed.
He turned up the collar of his coat and hurried out into the rain.
cartwheel/somersault
to turn cartwheels/somersaults
game
13 intransitive, transitive turn (something) (around) if a game turns or somebody turns it, it changes the way it is developing so that a different person or team starts to win age/time
14 linking verb (not used in the progressive tenses) + noun to reach or pass a particular age or time
She turns 21 in June.
It's turned midnight.
stomach
15 intransitive, transitive turn (your stomach) when your stomach turns or something turns your stomach, you feel as though you will vomit wood
16 transitive turn something (specialist) to shape something on a lathe to turn a chair leg
turned boxes and bowls
Idioms
Most idioms containing turn are at the entries for the nouns and adjectives in the idioms, for example not turn a hair is at hair.
Phrasal Verbs
turn
/tɜːn/
time
1 the time when somebody in a group of people should or is allowed to do something
When it's your turn, take another card.
Please wait your turn.
somebody's turn to do something Whose turn is it to cook?
Steve took a turn driving while I slept.
If you can't put any cards down you have to miss a turn.
By the time it came to my turn to sing, I was a bag of nerves.
Can I have a turn?
Give Sarah a turn on the swing.
I'll take a turn making the dinner—you have a rest.
She had not been friendly to Pete and he, in his turn, was cold to her when she came to stay.
Collocations
verb + turn
turn + verb
preposition
in turn
in somebody’s turn
out of turn
of road/vehicle
2 a change in direction in a vehicle
Make a left/right turn into West Street.
turn to the left/right He made a sudden turn to the right.
Collocations
adjective
verb + turn
phrases
at every turn
a turn to the left
a turn to the right
3 (especially North American English) (British English usually turning) a place where a road leads away from the one you are travelling on
Take the next turn on the right.
He took a wrong turn and ended up on the coast road.
4 a bend or corner in a road
a lane full of twists and turns
There was a screech as the car rounded a tight turn.
The car skidded around a hairpin turn.
Slow down as you enter the turn
She stopped talking as she negotiated a particularly sharp turn.
movement
5 an act of turning somebody/something around
Give the handle a few turns.
The engine started with the first turn of the key.
Rotate the image through a quarter turn.
a full turn of the handle to the right
It slowly spun for three complete turns.
a quick turn of his head
Every time she did a flip turn, she made a large splash.
Collocations
adjective
verb + turn
give something
change
6 an unusual or unexpected change in what is happening
a surprising turn of events
His health has taken a turn for the worse (= suddenly got worse).
Events took a dramatic turn in the weeks that followed.
by turns The book is, by turns, funny and very sad.
Her career took an unexpected turn when she moved to New York.
It marks a major turn in this presidency.
He seems to have taken an abrupt career turn with his new movie.
Schuler's life took a radical turn when he became obsessed with horses.
The battle took an unfortunate turn.
The trial has taken an even more bizarre turn today.
The video market took an interesting turn in the mid 1980s.
This movie is by turn terrifying and very funny.
It's impossible to follow all the twists and turns of the plot.
Collocations
adjective
verb + turn
preposition
by turn
by turn
son the turn
phrases
take a turn for the better
take a turn for the worse
a turn of events
performance
7 a short performance or piece of entertainment such as a song, etc.
Everyone got up on stage to do a turn.
walk
8 (old-fashioned) a short walk
We took a turn around the park.
illness
9 (old-fashioned) a feeling of illness
a funny turn (= a feeling that you may faint)
Grandma had one of her turns.
Idioms
at every turn
everywhere or every time you try and do something
At every turn I met with disappointment.
Her ideas were blocked at every turn.
done to a turn
cooked for exactly the right amount of time
give somebody a turn
(old-fashioned) to frighten or shock somebody
You gave me quite a turn, creeping up on me like that!
(do somebody) a good turn
(to do) something that helps somebody
Well, that's my good turn for the day.
in turn
one after the other in a particular order
The children called out their names in turn.
as a result of something in a series of events
Increased production will, in turn, lead to increased profits.
not do a hand’s turn
(old-fashioned) to do no work
She hasn't done a hand's turn all week.
one good turn deserves another
(saying) you should help somebody who has helped you
on the turn
(especially British English) going to change soon
His luck is on the turn.
out of turn
if you do something out of turn, you do it when you are not supposed to be the next person to do something
Batista had batted out of turn.
I'm writing to you out of turn because I have some very important news.
serve your/its turn
(British English) to be useful for a particular purpose or period of time
speak/talk out of turn
to say something that you should not because it is the wrong situation or because it offends somebody
take turns (doing something/in doing something/to do something)
(British English also take it in turns)
if people take turns or take it in turns to do something, they do it one after the other to make sure it is done fairly
The male and female birds take turns in sitting on the eggs.
We take it in turns to do the housework.
The kids took turns on the swing.
the turn of the century/year
the time when a new century/year starts
It was built at the turn of the century.
The team are unbeaten since the turn of the year.
a turn of mind
a particular way of thinking about things
a turn of phrase
a particular way of describing something
He is meticulous in his choice of words and turns of phrase.
a turn of the screw
an extra amount of pressure, cruelty, etc. added to a situation that is already difficult to bear or understand
a turn of speed
a sudden increase in your speed or rate of progress; the ability to suddenly increase your speed
He put on an impressive turn of speed in the last lap.
The kangaroo has a fast turn of speed.
For a small car it has a good turn of speed.
Word Origin
Old English tyrnan, turnian (verb), from Latin tornare, from tornus ‘lathe’, from Greek tornos ‘lathe, circular movement’; probably reinforced in Middle English by Old French turner. The noun (Middle English) is partly from Anglo-Norman French tourn, partly from the verb.