turn to good account

Idioms  

1. Use for one's benefit, as in He turned the delay to good account, using the time to finish correspondence. This idiom, first recorded in 1878, uses account in the sense of “a reckoning.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

turn to good account

But I should be as ready to forgive vanity in a nation as in an individual, and to make it turn to good account.

From The Life and Letters of Maria Edgeworth, Volume 2 by Hare, Augustus J. C.

Yet, though this joint expedition was a disgraceful failure, he had learned some useful lessons, which he was presently to turn to good account.

From The Winning of Canada: a Chronicle of Wolf by Wrong, George McKinnon

He is the man that the English send when they suspect that something is going on which they can turn to good account.

From The Vultures by Merriman, Henry Seton

But to describe a typical film of the better sort and to indicate its practical use may have some suggestive value for wide-awake ministers who wish to turn to good account every legitimate social agency.

From The Minister and the Boy A Handbook for Churchmen Engaged in Boys' Work by Hoben, Allan

But even if she took no more share than Fanny Price, she must have acquired a considerable acquaintance with the language of the theatre—knowledge that she was to turn to good account in Mansfield Park.

From Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters A Family Record by Austen-Leigh, William