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

I am accommodated very cheaply, and am at the same time within easy reach of many things, the neighborhood of which I can turn to good account.

From Louis Agassiz: His Life and Correspondence by Louis Agassiz

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 George McKinnon Wrong

"We may be able," he said, "to turn to good account Evasio's conviction that you are ill in bed, when in reality you are in the saddle."

From The Velvet Glove by Henry Seton Merriman

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 Henry Seton Merriman

I was informed that these Mamalukes were in possession of many slaves and fine horses, which will turn to good account in Egypt.

From A Narrative of the Expedition to Dongola and Sennaar Under the Command of His Excellence Ismael Pasha, undertaken by Order of His Highness Mehemmed Ali Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt, By An American In The Service Of The Viceroy by George Bethune English

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