Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The keeper of the keys in a prison; a jailer.
- adj. Supplied, installed, or purchased in a condition ready for immediate use, occupation, or operation: a turnkey computer system; a turnkey housing project.
- adj. Of or relating to something supplied, installed, or purchased in this manner: a turnkey agreement.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The person who has charge of the keys of a prison, for opening and fastening the doors; a prison warden.
- n. An instrument, now almost obsolete, used for extracting teeth.
Wiktionary
- adj. ready to use without further assembly or test; supplied in a state that is ready to turn on and operate (typically refers to an assembly that is outsourced for manufacture)
- n. A warder or jailer / gaoler; keeper of the keys in a prison.
- v. to supply a turnkey product; to supply something fully assembled and ready to use
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A person who has charge of the keys of a prison, for opening and fastening the doors; a warder.
- n. (Dentistry) An instrument with a hinged claw, -- used for extracting teeth with a twist.
- adj. Of or pertaining to a building, complex device, system, or industrial installation which is sold by a contractor only after it is ready for immediate occupation or use; fully functional and ready for use; -- used of complex systems of a type which often require preparation or installation by the user before being capable of functioning as intended.
WordNet 3.0
- n. someone who guards prisoners
Etymologies
- From turn + key. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“He promotes his services at dealer trade shows, selling what he calls a "turnkey" operation with contracts, software and insurance for used-car leasing.”
“INDEXED shirts = adventures in turnkey capitalism.”
“In my impatience I called the turnkey, who told me that, after questioning the clerk of the prison, she had gone away again.”
“Publishers can choose white label turnkey solutions or individually configured modules.”
“Many schools rely on so-called turnkey fund-raisers, such as Sally Foster, a gift and wrapping-paper outfit, that induce children to sell products in order to win prizes ranging from plastic straws to iPods.”
“Get up," called the turnkey as the door swung open, the middle silhouette in the dim but stinging light.”
“The turnkey was a hulking, gnarled man who had served seven terms on the front, a lifetime soldier in the Federation Army.”
“Hubertz appeared to have ambitions beyond being an operator, too - offering white label turnkey poker operations when he said: "With our new powerful software capabilities, we will also be able to offer white label poker rooms to serious companies.”
“The warden then called a turnkey and ordered him to attend Miss Black to the condemned cell.”
“The readers of Mr. Micawber's history who remember David's first visit to the Marshalsea prison, and how upon seeing the turnkey he recalled the turnkey in the blanket in _Roderick Random_, will read with curious interest what follows, written as a personal experience of fact two or three years before the fiction had even entered into his thoughts:”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘turnkey’.
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EN - archaic words
abide, abjure, abroad, adamant, afield, aforetime, aghast, anon, apace, argent, assuage, aught and 328 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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EN - newSPEAK
Buzzwords of our time
actionable, administrivia, advermation, agreeance, backbone provider, back-sourcing, baked in, bandwidth, barn raising, Barneyware, belly-buttons, Below Zeros and 1076 more...
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WF - nominal compounds (figurative)
An extensive list I have been working on for quite some time. Feel free to add more of the kind if you miss any.
brainstorming, upside, downside, goldplating, bikeshedding, mudslinging, downgrading, headhunter, streamlining, mainstreaming, gerrymandering, frontloading and 503 more...
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Keepers
I'm fond of many words, but these are definitely keepers.
beekeeper, zookeeper, goalkeeper, netkeeper, innkeeper, housekeeper, storekeeper, gamekeeper, wicketkeeper, lighthouse keeper, gatekeeper, bookkeeper and 64 more...
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Wordplayer's Wonderful Words
chaparral, grotesque, knork, newsmonger, thitherwards, fackeltanz, kakistocracy, sforzando, compendium, frump, inquere, phosphene and 100 more...
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Digital Terms
Words come and go, perhaps nowhere faster than online. Some industry terms to stay current -- or to remember as they rest in peace.
tweet, cpm, crackberry, nofollow, brick-and-mortar, page view, double opt-in, opt-in, opt-out, mash-up, word of mouth, ctr and 200 more...
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Gil Blas
Interesting words and usages from Smollett's 1749 translation of Lesage's L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane
reck, durance, rhodomontade, hangdog, trap, lustre, pin, boggle, dandle, birthday suit, colic, gripes and 238 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, T
torquate, thalassocracy, toothsome, travois, tempestuous, tone, tincture, tripwire, tether, trill, tenacious, travesty and 355 more...
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EAD
Just some random words that speak to me
fecklessness, malarky, absurd, quashed, hyperbole, woebegone, peripatetic, somber, sisyphean, bane, intolerance, bogus and 65 more...
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Alexandre Dumas
Words from the works of Alexandre Dumas. Work in progress...
viscount, chateau, musketeer, bon vivant, vendetta, corsica, countess, duel, cardinal, overthrow, treaty, fleur-de-lis and 17 more...
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no love lost
Rare words: words that I hate
Tweets
Looking for tweets for turnkey.
dailyword Tyrion called Mord this in an episode of Game Of Thrones when he was imprisoned at The Eyrie. Jun 11, 2012
dontcry I always think of turnkey and thumbscrew together. That is, whenever I hear turnkey I then think of thumbscrew and vice-versa. Then I almost always remember that actor who had kind of bulging eyes (not Marty Feldman) who wore, in at least one movie, a sackcloth garb, had kind of a Beatles haircut and was somebody's turnkey, thumbscrew, or sidekick. What was his name...? Feb 27, 2009
rolig God, I hate marketing lingo, especially when it usurps a wonderful, vivid word like turnkey. In my view, this self-promotional usage, and the marketeers who came up with it, are shovel-ready. Do any of these people read books?
*feels himself turning into a curmudgeon; sort of likes it, sort of doesn't* Feb 26, 2009
ecbrenner "A system or software package that has been built, installed or supplied by the manufacturer complete and ready to operate. In the computer industry, the term is used to promote a system that can be easily set up and operated 'right out of the box.'" --ECommerce-Guide.com Feb 26, 2009
yarb Thereupon the magistrate withdrew, assuring me that the gaoler should be ordered to give me free egress. In fact, the very next moment the turnkey came into my dungeon...
- Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 1 ch. 13 Sep 11, 2008