turn away
Britishverb
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to move or cause to move in a different direction so as not to face something
one of the child turned away while the others hid
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(tr) to refuse admittance or assistance to
dozens of people were turned away from the hostel
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Send away, dismiss, as in They ran short and had to turn away many customers . [Late 1500s]
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Repel, as in The high prices turned away prospective buyers .
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Avert, deflect, as in She managed to turn away all criticism . [Late 1300s]
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.
"My intuition was that this would not sit well with the American public, and that people would turn away from such a spectacle," Maher told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
They found that the animals could detect sounds from substantial distances and abruptly turn away from the source, even when it was nearly 250 feet away.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
Carvana is capitalizing on growing used-car demand as buyers turn away from new cars that cost an average of $50,000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
And yet Hannah continued listening and watching: "Once you've seen that world, it's hard to turn away."
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
I turn away from her, holding Boo’s hand.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
