turn on
Britishverb
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(tr, adverb) to cause (something) to operate by turning a knob, etc
to turn on the light
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(intr, preposition) to depend or hinge on
the success of the party turns on you
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(preposition) to change or cause to change one's attitude so as to become hostile or to retaliate
the dog turned on the children
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informal (tr, adverb) to produce (charm, tears, etc) suddenly or automatically
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informal to interest (someone) in something
how to turn kids on to drama
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slang (tr, adverb) to arouse emotionally or sexually
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slang (intr, adverb) to take or become intoxicated by drugs
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slang (tr, adverb) to introduce (someone) to drugs
noun
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Cause to begin the operation, flow, or activity of, as in Turn on the lights, please , or Don't turn on the sprinkler yet . [First half of 1800s]
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Begin to display, employ, or exude, as in He turned on the charm . [Late 1800s]
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Also, . Take or cause to take a mind-altering drug, as in The boys were excited about turning on , or They tried to get her high , or I told them I wouldn't get on tonight . [ Slang ; mid-1900s]
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Be or cause to become excited or interested, as in His mother was the first to turn him on to classical music . [c. 1900]
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Be or become sexually aroused, as in He blushed when she asked him what turned him on . [Second half of 1900s]
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Also, turn upon . Depend on, relate to, as in The entire plot turns on mistaken identity . This usage, first recorded in 1661, uses turn in the sense of “revolve on an axis or hinge.”
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Also, turn upon . Attack, become hostile toward, as in Although normally friendly, the dog suddenly turned on everyone who came to the door . Also see turn against .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
No one who saw his turn on “Between Two Ferns” should be surprised.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026
Hemani’s answer is that constitutional rights cannot turn on analogies that survive only because the categories have been defined so broadly that the distinctions disappear.
From Slate • Jun. 26, 2026
But when the inevitably cutthroat social dynamics of in-groups and out-groups lead the other players to turn on comedian Ron Funches, not even the ice-blooded Rausch can live with himself.
From Salon • Jun. 20, 2026
Investors continued to turn on technology stocks, dragging the semiconductor-heavy AEX down 0.9% in Amsterdam.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
I’m about to crawl up to my top bunk and turn on the Black Panther soundtrack when our doorbell rings.
From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
