(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: 'Turn' is used in a large number of other expressions which are explained under other words in the dictionary. For example, the expression ‘~ over a new leaf’ is explained at 'leaf'.
1.
When you ~ or when you ~ part of your body, you move your body or part of your body so that it is facing in a different or opposite direction.
He ~ed abruptly and walked away...
He sighed, ~ing away and surveying the sea...
He ~ed his head left and right...
VERB: V, V prep/adv, V n adv/prep
•
Turn around or ~ round means the same as ~ .
I felt a tapping on my shoulder and I ~ed around...
Turn your upper body round so that your shoulders are facing to the side.
PHRASAL VERB: V P, V n P
2.
When you ~ something, you move it so that it is facing in a different or opposite direction, or is in a very different position.
They ~ed their telescopes towards other nearby galaxies...
She had ~ed the bedside chair to face the door...
The lid, ~ed upside down, served as a coffee table.
VERB: V n prep/adv, V n to-inf, V-ed
3.
When something such as a wheel ~s, or when you ~ it, it continually moves around in a particular direction.
As the wheel ~ed, the potter shaped the clay...
The engine ~ed a propeller.
VERB: V, V n
4.
When you ~ something such as a key, knob, or switch, or when it ~s, you hold it and twist your hand, in order to open something or make it start working.
Turn a special key, press the brake pedal, and your car’s brakes lock...
Turn the heat to very low and cook for 20 minutes...
I tried the doorknob and it ~ed.
VERB: V n, V n prep/adv, V
5.
When you ~ in a particular direction or ~ a corner, you change the direction in which you are moving or travelling.
Now ~ right to follow West Ferry Road...
The man with the umbrella ~ed the corner again.
VERB: V prep/adv, V n
•
Turn is also a noun.
You can’t do a right-hand ~ here.
N-COUNT
6.
The point where a road, path, or river ~s, is the point where it has a bend or curve in it.
...the corner where Tenterfield Road ~ed into the main road.
VERB: V prep/adv, also V
•
Turn is also a noun.
...a sharp ~ in the road.
N-COUNT
7.
When the tide ~s, it starts coming in or going out.
There was not much time before the tide ~ed.
VERB: V
8.
When you ~ a page of a book or magazine, you move it so that is flat against the previous page, and you can read the next page.
He ~ed the pages of a file in front of him.
VERB: V n
9.
If you ~ a weapon or an aggressive feeling on someone, you point it at them or direct it at them.
He tried to ~ the gun on me...
The crowd than ~ed their anger on Prime Minister James Mitchell.
VERB: V n on n, V n on n
10.
If you ~ to a particular page in a book or magazine, you open it at that page.
To order, ~ to page 236.
VERB: V to n
11.
If you ~ your attention or thoughts to a particular subject or if you ~ to it, you start thinking about it or discussing it.
We ~ed our attention to the practical matters relating to forming a company...
We ~ now to the British news.
VERB: V n to n, V to n
12.
If you ~ to someone, you ask for their help or advice.
For assistance, they ~ed to one of the city’s most innovative museums...
VERB: V to n
13.
If you ~ to a particular activity, job, or way of doing something, you start doing or using it.
These communities are now ~ing to recycling in large numbers...
VERB: V to/from n/-ing
14.
To ~ or be ~ed into something means to become that thing.
A prince ~s into a frog in this cartoon fairytale...
The hated dictator had ~ed his country into one of the poorest police states in Europe...
VERB: V into/to n, V n into/to n
15.
You can use ~ before an adjective to indicate that something or someone changes by acquiring the quality described by the adjective.
If the bailiff thinks that things could ~ nasty he will enlist the help of the police...
= become
V-LINK: V adj
16.
If something ~s a particular colour or if something ~s it a particular colour, it becomes that colour.
The sea would ~ pale pink and the sky blood red...
Her contact lenses ~ed her eyes green.
V-LINK: V colour, V n colour
17.
You can use ~ to indicate that there is a change to a particular kind of weather. For example, if it ~s cold, the weather starts being cold.
If it ~s cold, cover plants...
V-LINK: V adj
18.
If a situation or trend takes a particular kind of ~, it changes so that it starts developing in a different or opposite way.
The scandal took a new ~ over the weekend.
N-COUNT: with supp, oft N in n
19.
If a business ~s a profit, it earns more money than it spends. (AM BUSINESS; in BRIT, use make , re~ )
The firm will be able to service debt and still ~ a modest profit...
VERB: no passive, V n
20.
When someone ~s a particular age, they pass that age. When it ~s a particular time, it passes that time.
It was his ambition to accumulate a million dollars before he ~ed thirty...
VERB: V n
21.
Turn is used in expressions such as the ~ of the century and the ~ of the year to refer to a period of time when one century or year is ending and the next one is beginning.
They fled to South America around the ~ of the century.
N-SING: the N of n
22.
When someone ~s a wooden or metal object that they are making, they shape it using a special tool.
...the joys of making a living from ~ing wood.
VERB: V n
23.
If it is your ~ to do something, you now have the duty, chance, or right to do it, when other people have done it before you or will do it after you.
Tonight it’s my ~ to cook...
Let each child have a ~ at fishing...
N-COUNT: usu with poss, oft N to-inf, N at -ing, N -ing
24.
If you say that someone is having a ~, you mean they feel suddenly very unwell for a short period of time. (BRIT INFORMAL)
N-COUNT
25.
see also ~ing
26.
You can use by ~s to indicate that someone has two particular emotions or qualities, one after the other.
His tone was by ~s angry and aggrieved.
PHRASE: PHR with group, PHR with v
27.
If there is a particular ~ of events, a particular series of things happen.
They were horrified at this unexpected ~ of events.
PHRASE
28.
If you say that something happens at every ~, you are emphasizing that it happens frequently or all the time, usually so that it prevents you from achieving what you want.
Its operations were hampered at every ~ by inadequate numbers of trained staff...
PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl emphasis
29.
If you do someone a good ~, you do something that helps or benefits them.
He did you a good ~ by resigning...
PHRASE: usu PHR after v
30.
If someone ~s a place inside out or upside down, they search it very thoroughly and usually make it very untidy.
They hadn’t found a scrap of evidence though they had ~ed his flat inside out.
PHRASE: V inflects
31.
If something such as a system or way of life is ~ed inside out or upside down, it is changed completely, making people confused or upset.
He felt too shocked to move. His world had been ~ed upside down.
PHRASE: V inflects
32.
You use in ~ to refer to actions or events that are in a sequence one after the other, for example because one causes the other.
One of the members of the surgical team leaked the story to a fellow physician who, in ~, confided in a reporter.
PHRASE: PHR with cl/group
33.
If each person in a group does something in ~, they do it one after the other in a fixed or agreed order.
There were cheers for each of the women as they spoke in ~.
PHRASE: PHR after v
34.
If you speak out of ~ or talk out of ~, you say something that you do not have the right or authority to say.
I hope I haven’t spoken out of ~.
PHRASE: V inflects
35.
If two or more people take ~s to do something, or in British English take it in ~s to do something, they do it one after the other several times, rather than doing it together.
We took ~s to drive the car...
PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR to-inf
36.
If a situation takes a ~ for the worse, it suddenly becomes worse. If a situation takes a ~ for the better, it suddenly becomes better.
Her condition took a sharp ~ for the worse.
PHRASE: V inflects