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.
That legislation would also have required tech firms to be able to turn off the models they directly control if things went awry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
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
The thermostat had been set to 71 degrees Fahrenheit and a worker forgot to turn off the air-conditioning.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
Meta also uses various signals to determine whether the person supervising a teen account—and thereby able to turn off key restrictions, such as the time limits—is actually the teen’s parent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
He wished he could turn off the wall videos.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
