turn off
Britishverb
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to leave (a road, pathway, etc)
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(of a road, pathway, etc) to deviate from (another road, etc)
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(tr, adverb) to cause (something) to cease operating by turning a knob, pushing a button, etc
to turn off the radio
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informal (tr) to cause (a person, etc) to feel dislike or distaste for (something)
this music turns me off
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informal (tr, adverb) to dismiss from employment
noun
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a road or other way branching off from the main thoroughfare
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informal a person or thing that elicits dislike or distaste
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Stop the operation, activity, or flow of; shut off, as in Turn off the lights when you leave . [Mid-1800s]
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Affect with dislike, revulsion, or boredom; cause to lose interest. For example, That vulgar comedian turned us off completely , or The movie was all right for an hour or so, but then I was turned off . [ Slang ; mid-1900s]
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.
If tech firms such as Meta, Google and TikTok did not give the option to turn off algorithms, they should face "substantial" penalties, she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Edison didn’t turn off power on its Eaton Canyon transmission lines, despite emergency conditions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
One thing I’ve done is to turn off all my alerts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Without the "Big Bang" power saving effort, the Voyager team would have needed to turn off another instrument aboard Voyager 2 before the end of 2026.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
I watched it turn off to take the road to Spain.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
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.
