OTHER WORDS FOR turn
Idioms about turn
Origin of turn
synonym study for turn
88. Turn, cast, twist are colloquial in use and imply a bent, inclination, or habit. Turn means a tendency or inclination for something: a turn for art. Cast means an established habit of thought, manner, or style: a melancholy cast. Twist means a bias: a strange twist of thought.
OTHER WORDS FROM turn
turn·a·ble, adjectivehalf-turned, adjectiveun·turn·a·ble, adjectiveun·turned, adjectiveWords nearby turn
MORE ABOUT TURN
What is a basic definition of turn?
Turn is a verb that means to rotate. Turn can also mean to change or transform. A turn is a chance to act as part of a rotation or round. The word turn has many other senses as a verb and a noun. Turn is also used in a large number of idioms.
Turn means to cause something to rotate or face a different direction. If you turn a steering wheel, for example, you are making it rotate clockwise (to the right) or counterclockwise (to the left). Turn also means to change direction or rotate. If you are walking north up a street and turn south, for example, you start walking south instead of north.
- Real-life examples: You turn a bottle of ketchup upside down to get ketchup to come out. You might turn a dial to start a washing machine. If you’re walking west, you need to turn in the opposite direction to walk east.
- Used in a sentence: I turned the sunflower so that it was facing the sun.
Turn can also mean to change or transform. Often, this sense of turn is followed by into or to if something is described as changing from one thing into another.
- Real-life examples: As they age, children turn into adults. Fire can cause wood to turn to ash. You probably shouldn’t eat meat that has turned rotten.
- Used in a sentence: I left after the friendly cat turned mean.
A turn is an opportunity to act. Specifically, a turn is a person’s or thing’s reserved time when they get to do something as part of a lineup or round. For example, if children take turns petting a dog, each child waits while the children before them in line pet the dog. Then, they will pet the dog for a bit. When their turn is over, the next child in line will pet the dog. Many games divide up players’ actions into turns as part of the rules.
- Real-life examples: In chess, players take turns moving pieces. A parent may make their children take turns using a swing. It might be your turn to take out the garbage this week.
- Used in a sentence: I’ll make sure every kid has a turn to ride the pony.
Where does turn come from?
The first records of turn come from before the year 1000. It ultimately comes from the Latin tornāre, meaning “to turn in a lathe” or “to round off.” A lathe is a machine that holds a piece of wood or other material and rotates it around a tool that shapes it. The Latin tornāre comes from the Greek tórnos, meaning a “tool for making circles.”
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What are some other forms related to turn?
- turnable (adjective)
- half-turned (adjective)
- unturnable (adjective)
- unturned (adjective)
What are some synonyms for turn?
What are some words that share a root or word element with turn?
What are some words that often get used in discussing turn?
How is turn used in real life?
Turn is a very common word that means to change direction, to transform, or refers to a person’s chance to act.
A strange quirk about me… when I lock a door I always have to turn the handle to make sure it's in fact locked. What are your quirks?
— B101FM (@B101FMBARRIE) April 22, 2013
I told my kid what we’re having for dinner, and she replied, “Man, I just can’t win today.” She turned into a 47-year-old guy with a mortgage and lower back pain right before my eyes.
— Carmely Sandiego (@orangecrushable) February 8, 2021
Even the most protective masks don't eliminate risk of Covid infection. In addition to masking up, we still have to keep our distance, wash our hands, and get vaccinated when it's our turn.
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) February 5, 2021
Try using turn!
True or False?
If someone turns a newspaper into a hat, they make a newspaper change into a hat.