turn.
To make a non-linear physical movement.
Meaning & usage
To make a non-linear physical movement. To move about an axis through itself.
the Earth turns
turn on the spot
To make a non-linear physical movement. To change the direction or orientation of, especially by rotation.
Turn the knob clockwise.
To make a non-linear physical movement. To change one's direction of travel.
She turned right at the corner.
To make a non-linear physical movement. To shape (something) symmetrically by rotating it against a stationary cutting tool, as on a lathe.
She turned the table legs with care and precision.
To make a non-linear physical movement. To give form to; to shape or mould; to adapt.
To make a non-linear physical movement. To direct or impel (something) into or out of a place.
Add sugar and butter, then turn the mixture into a dish.
The farmer turned the cows into a field.
To make a non-linear physical movement. To position (something) by folding it, or using its folds.
turn the bed covers; turn the pages
To make a non-linear physical movement. To navigate through a book or other printed material.
turn to page twenty; turn through the book
To make a non-linear physical movement. To twist or sprain.
I fell off my bike and turned my ankle severely.
To make a non-linear physical movement. Of a bowler, to make (the ball) move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.
To make a non-linear physical movement. Of a ball, to move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.
To change condition or attitude. To become (often used with colors, clear sudden changes, weather and ages).
The leaves turn brown in autumn.
When I asked him for the money, he turned nasty.
To change condition or attitude. To change the color of the leaves in the autumn.
The hillside behind our house isn't generally much to look at, but once all the trees turn it's gorgeous.
To change condition or attitude. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose.
Midas made everything turn to gold. He turned into a monster every full moon.
To change condition or attitude. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose. To sour or spoil; to go bad.
This milk has turned; it smells awful.
To change condition or attitude. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose. To make acid or sour; to ferment; to curdle.
to turn cider or wine
To change condition or attitude. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose. To change (a person) into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc.
How long ago was he turned?
To change condition or attitude. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose. To transform into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc.
Bruce Banner turns when he is angry: he becomes the Hulk, an incredibly powerful green monster.
To change condition or attitude. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose. To change the sexual orientation or gender of another person, or otherwise awaken a sexual preference.
To change condition or attitude. To hinge; to depend.
The decision turns on a single fact.
To change condition or attitude. To rebel; to go against something formerly tolerated.
The prisoners turned on the warden.
To change condition or attitude. To change personal condition. To change personalities, such as from being a face (good guy) to heel (bad guy) or vice versa.
To change condition or attitude. To change personal condition. To make or become giddy; said of the head or brain.
To change condition or attitude. To change personal condition. To sicken; to nauseate.
The sight turned my stomach.
To change condition or attitude. To change personal condition. To be nauseated; said of the stomach.
To change one's course of action; to take a new approach.
To complete.
They say they can turn the parts in two days.
To make (money); turn a profit.
We turned a pretty penny with that little scheme.
Of a player, to go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
To undergo the process of turning on a lathe.
Ivory turns well.
To bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery.
To invert a type of the same thickness, as a temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.
To translate.
to turn the Iliad
To magically or divinely repel undead.
To carve vegetables into uniform barrel-like or American football-like shapes.
The hardest part of culinary school was learning to turn vegetables perfectly.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-nos Proto-Indo-European *tórh₁nos Proto-Hellenic *tórnos Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos)bor. Latin tornus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin tornōbor. Proto-West Germanic *turnēn Old English turnian ▲ Latin tornō Old French tornerbor. Middle English turnen English turn From Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan (“to turn, rotate, revolve”), from Proto-West Germanic *turnēn (“to turn, lathe”) (also the source of German turnen and its derivatives) and Old French torner (“to turn”), both from Latin tornāre (“to round off, turn in a lathe”), from tornus (“lathe”), from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos, “turning-lathe: a tool used for making circles”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, rub by turning, turn, twist, bore”). Cognate with Old English þrāwan (“to turn, twist, wind”), whence English throw. Displaced native Middle English wenden from Old English wendan (see wend), and Middle English trenden from Old English trendan (see trend), among several other terms.
A change of direction or orientation.
Give the handle a turn, then pull it.
A movement of an object about its own axis in one direction that continues until the object returns to its initial orientation.
A movement of an object about its own axis in one direction that continues until the object returns to its initial orientation. A unit of plane angle measurement based on this movement.
A walk to and fro.
Let's take a turn in the garden.
A chance to use something shared in sequence with others.
They took turns playing with the new toy.
A spell of work, especially the time allotted to a person in a rota or schedule.
I cooked tonight, so it's your turn to do the dishes.
One's chance to make a move in a game having two or more players.
A figure in music, often denoted ~, consisting of the note above the one indicated, the note itself, the note below the one indicated, and the note itself again.
The time required to complete a project.
They quote a three-day turn on parts like those.
The transition from one period or era, or hour on the clock, to another.
turn of the century
A fit or a period of giddiness.
I've had a funny turn.
A change in temperament or circumstance.
She took a turn for the worse.
A sideways movement of the ball when it bounces (caused by rotation in flight).
The fourth communal card in Texas hold 'em.
The flop (the first three community cards) in Texas hold 'em.
A deed done to another; an act of kindness or malice.
One good turn deserves another.
I felt that the man was of a vindictive nature, and would do me an evil turn if he found the opportunity[…].
A single loop of a coil.
A pass behind or through an object.
Character; personality; nature.
An instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
A short skit, act, or routine.
A type turned upside down to serve for another character that is not available.
The profit made by a stockjobber, being the difference between the buying and selling prices.
Where this word comes from
Partly from Anglo-Norman *torn, from Latin tornus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos), and partly an action noun from the verb turn.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.