turnkey

[turn-kee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR turnkey ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural turn·keys.

a person who has charge of the keys of a prison; jailer.

adjective

Also turn-key. of, relating to, or resulting from an arrangement under which a private contractor designs and constructs a project, building, etc., for sale when completely ready for occupancy or operation: turn-key housing, turnkey contract.

fully equipped; ready to go into operation: a turnkey business.

Origin of turnkey

First recorded in 1645–55; turn + key¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for turnkey

guard, warden

Examples from the Web for turnkey

Historical Examples of turnkey

The turnkey gave it as the result of his experience that some of 'em was and some of 'em wasn't.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
Upon which door the turnkey knocked with the handle of his key.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
But the turnkey thanked them, and said, 'No, on the whole it was enough to see other people's children there.'
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
So, the turnkey thought about it all his life, and died intestate after all.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
As it approached, there was not a Collegian within doors, nor a turnkey absent.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for turnkey

turnkey

noun

archaic a keeper of the keys, esp in a prison; warder or jailer

adjective

denoting a project, as in civil engineering, in which a single contractor has responsibility for the complete job from the start to the time of installation or occupancy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for turnkey

adj.

1650s, "jailer," from turn (v.) + key (n.). In reference to a job that only has to be done once, it is recorded from 1934. The notion is of locking up afterward.