turnkey

[ turn-kee ]
See synonyms for turnkey on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural turn·keys.
  1. a person who has charge of the keys of a prison; jailer.

adjective
  1. 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.

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

Origin of turnkey

1
First recorded in 1645–55; turn + key1

Words Nearby turnkey

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use turnkey in a sentence

  • Silently the turnkey passes the cell, like a flitting mystery casting its shadow athwart a troubled soul.

    Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander Berkman
  • "Wery probable," says the turnkey, smoking his pipe wery fierce, and making believe he warn't up to wot the little man wanted.

    The Pickwick Papers | Charles Dickens
  • He had not many visitors, and his only attendant was a prisoner, who was appointed for that purpose by the turnkey.

  • The turnkey withdrew to a discreet distance, where he remained within call, yet beyond the range of ordinary conversation.

    Under the Rose | Frederic Stewart Isham
  • Breathless, exhausted, the free baron marked the conflict now transferred to the turnkey and the jester.

    Under the Rose | Frederic Stewart Isham

British Dictionary definitions for turnkey

turnkey

/ (ˈtɜːnˌkiː) /


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

adjective
  1. 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