turn up

British  

verb

1. (intr) to arrive or appear

   he turned up late at the party

2. to find or be found, esp by accident

   his book turned up in the cupboard

3. (tr) to increase the flow, volume, etc, of

   to turn up the radio

4. informal (tr) to cause to vomit

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noun

1. US and Canadian name: cuff.  (often plural) the turned-up fold at the bottom of some trouser legs

2. informal an unexpected or chance occurrence

turn up Idioms  

1. Increase the volume, speed, intensity, or flow of, as in Turn up the air conditioning; it's too hot in here . [Late 1800s]

2. Find or be found, as in She turned up the missing papers , or Your coat turned up in the closet .

3. Appear, arrive, as in His name turns up in the newspaper now and then , or Some old friends turned up unexpectedly . [c. 1700] This usage gave rise to turn up like a bad penny , meaning that something unwanted constantly reappears, as in Ken turns up like a bad penny whenever there's free liquor. Bad here alludes to a counterfeit coin.

4. Fold or be capable of being folded, as in I'll just turn up the hem , or He preferred cuffs that turn up . [c. 1600]

5. Happen unexpectedly, as in Something turned up so I couldn't go to the play . Also see the following idioms beginning with turn up .

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Example Sentences

The other hostages look to Ernest for answers when a corpse turns up on bank property.

From The Wall Street Journal

Residents of Hotham and North Cave, in East Yorkshire, say bags full of empty bottles have been turning up on grass verges for months.

From BBC

This has reduced the number turning up to work each day and led to hundreds quitting.

From BBC

But no one quite expected where they would turn up.

From BBC

Beetz stars as Asia, a young woman who turns up on the stoop of a high-end Manhattan apartment building, the Virgil, answering an ad for a maid job.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• come across
• crop up
• detect
• encounter
• find
• meet
• pop up
• reveal
• see