noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from gerund of turnen to turn — more at turn
1. : the act or course of one that turns: as
a. : rotation about an axis
the slow turning of the earth
b. : bend , flexure
count the turnings of a coil of wire
c. : deviation from the way or proper course
straighten out the turnings of the old road
a kind act that was to lead, after many turnings, to his own undoing — Time
d. : the act of reversing direction : about-face
2. : the place or point of a change in direction
when we come to the turning I shall run right past it — Margaret Kennedy
let only the few wrong turnings be retraced — Oscar Handlin
one of the major turnings in the cultural history of the West — Irving Horne
3.
a. : the act or process of forming by use of the lathe : turnery
b. : the shape of a turned member
staircase with balusters of three different turnings on each tread — American Guide Series: Connecticut
a trumpet-shaped turning
c. turnings plural : the chips or curls detached in the process of turnery from the material turned
cleaning pads made from metal turnings
4. : the amount of cloth (as the width of a seam) folded under along a raw edge for a seam or narrow hem