turn up
Britishverb
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(intr) to arrive or appear
he turned up late at the party
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to find or be found, esp by accident
his book turned up in the cupboard
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(tr) to increase the flow, volume, etc, of
to turn up the radio
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informal (tr) to cause to vomit
noun
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US and Canadian name: cuff. (often plural) the turned-up fold at the bottom of some trouser legs
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informal an unexpected or chance occurrence
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Increase the volume, speed, intensity, or flow of, as in Turn up the air conditioning; it's too hot in here . [Late 1800s]
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Find or be found, as in She turned up the missing papers , or Your coat turned up in the closet .
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Appear, arrive, as in His name turns up in the newspaper now and then , or Some old friends turned up unexpectedly . [c. 1700] This usage gave rise to turn up like a bad penny , meaning that something unwanted constantly reappears, as in Ken turns up like a bad penny whenever there's free liquor. Bad here alludes to a counterfeit coin.
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Fold or be capable of being folded, as in I'll just turn up the hem , or He preferred cuffs that turn up . [c. 1600]
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Happen unexpectedly, as in Something turned up so I couldn't go to the play . Also see the following idioms beginning with turn up .
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.
Activists urged countries to turn up in numbers, despite the distance.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
“I can’t turn up prescriptions for my son back when he was young, years ago,” Michigan resident Ellen Isaacs said.
From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026
Tests didn’t turn up any problems, but by January he was in such bad shape he had to stop trucking.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
On top of that, big players turn up in the big moments - and Erling Haaland will surely make a difference too.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026
When the National Woman’s Party learned that representatives of the Russian government were going to visit the White House on June 20, 1917, they decided to turn up the heat again.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
