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.
The company is developing a drug it hopes will turn off that genetic switch, allowing patients to naturally burn more calories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Police ordered the drivers traveling on the destroyed road to turn off their engines.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
My partner wants to turn off the light and go to sleep, but I'm still frantically typing on my phone.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
A precise count is hard to come by, however, as many vessels “go dark,” or turn off their transponder-like signals and radars in attempting to safely cross the strait.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
“I hate to break it to you, but Morpho is a fictional character. So you can turn off your night-light and stop worrying about your brains. He’s not real.”
From "A Monster of a Mystery (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #5)" by Franklin W. Dixon
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.
