turn

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“
When Stonor saw that his turn was approaching to be introduced, he was seized outright with panic.

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Definitions (431)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (167)

  1. transitive verb To cause to move around an axis or center; cause to rotate or revolve.
  2. transitive verb To cause to move around in order to achieve a result, such as opening, closing, tightening, or loosening: turn the key; turn a screw.
  3. transitive verb To alter or control the functioning of (a mechanical device, for example) by the use of a rotating or similar movement: turned the iron to a hotter setting.
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Examples (50)

  • The card on the turn was a three of hearts, pairing the board. —  Asimov'sSF,April-May2007
  • As Sir John Gladstone had the pleasure of seeing his son William Ewart become a distinguished member of Parliament, so Mr. Gladstone in his turn was able to witness his eldest son take his seat in the British Senate. —  The Grand Old Man
  • The pitiless amasser of wealth, Turcaret, is himself the dupe of a coquette, who in her turn is the victim of a more contemptible swindler. —  A History of French Literature Short Histories of the Literatures of the World: II.
  • Georgia in her turn was a rival of South Carolina in plans to drain this commerce itself. —  The Frontier in American History
  • As the scholar--as the solitary poet endeavors to work upon others by lays that quicken and songs that incite, so he in his turn is a debtor to his age, and the lonely thinking and writing become the property of all; but the effects are not seen in a moment; for higher than the most highly gifted spirit of any single man is the spirit of a nation. —  Christian Gellert's Last Christmas From "German Tales" Published by the American Publishers' Corporation
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

move ·  movement ·  manner ·  change ·  feel ·  play ·  course ·  go ·  position ·  one ·  fashion ·  answer

Used in the same contextWord Family

turn:   turning ·  turned ·  turns
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan and Old French torner, both from Latin tornāre, to turn in a lathe, from tornus, lathe, from Greek tornos; see terə-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also tourn, torn; from Middle English turnen, tyrnen, tirnen (from Anglo-Saxon), also tournen, tornen (from Old French); Anglo-Saxon tyrnan, turnian, turn (cf. German turnen, tilt, just, practise gymnastics, also Middle High German G. turnieren, tilt, just, tourney, =Icelandic turna, turn, turnera, tilt, tourney. from OF.), =Old French torner, tourner, French tourner =Provencal Spanish Portuguese tornar =Italian tornare, from Latin tornare, turn in a lathe, round off, Middle Latin turn (in various uses) (cf. Greek τορνεύειν, work with a turners' chisel, turn in a lathe, round off, turn, τορνον=οθαι, make round), from tornus, from Greek τόρνος, a tool used by carpenters to draw circles with, a kind of compasses, also a turners' chisel; akin to τορός, piercing, from τείρειν, pierce, Latin terere, rub away: see terebrate, trite, try.
  2. Early modern English also tourn, tourne, torn; from Middle English turn, tourn, torn, from Old French tourn, tour, a turn, trick, round, etc., French tour, a round, travel, tour, etc.; from the verb. Cf. tour.
 

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