take a turn for the better

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Improve, as in We thought she was on her deathbed but now she's taken a turn for the better. The antonym is take a turn for the worse, meaning “get worse, deteriorate,” as in Unemployment has been fairly low lately, but now the economy's taken a turn for the worse. This idiom employs turn in the sense of “a reversal,” a usage dating from about 1600.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON AFFECT VS. EFFECT!

In effect, this quiz will prove whether or not you have the skills to know the difference between “affect” and “effect.”

Question 1 of 7

The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.

affect

effect

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Words nearby take a turn for the better

take a shine to, take aside, take a spill, take a stand, take at face value, take a turn for the better, take a walk, takeaway, take away from, take a whack at, takeback

How to use take a turn for the better in a sentence

Yet this, in the end, is a book from which one emerges sad, gloomy, disenchanted, at least if we agree to take it seriously.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
France 24 is providing live, round-the-clock coverage of both scenes as they progress.
LIVE Coverage of the Paris Terror Attacks||January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We need to recover and grow the idea that the proper answer to bad speech is more and better speech.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
So far, all the players seemed to be willing to wait their turn.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Yes, we do typically do better than Europe (and Canada, too, which is frequently awful on this score).
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I take the Extream Bells, and set down the six Changes on them thus.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman
Of course, considerations of weight have to be taken into account, but the more mould round the roots the better.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
"Better so," was the Senora's sole reply; and she fell again into still deeper, more perplexed thought about the hidden treasure.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
Arches more graceful in form, or better fitted to defy the assaults of time, I have never seen.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
This is one of the most striking manifestations of the better side of child-nature and deserves a chapter to itself.
Children's Ways|James Sully