Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A mechanical device used to control passage from one public area to another, typically consisting of several horizontal arms supported by and radially projecting from a central vertical post and allowing only the passage of individuals on foot.
- n. A similar structure that permits the passage of an individual once a charge has been paid or that counts the number of individuals passing through.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A post surmounted by four horizontal arms which move round as a person passes through; a turnpike. Turnstiles are usually placed on roads, bridges, or other places, either to prevent the passage of cattle, horses, vehicles, etc., but to admit that of persons, or to bar a passage until toll or passage-money is collected; they are also placed (sometimes with a turnstile-register) at the entrance of buildings, as where there is a charge for admission, or where it is desired to prevent the entrance of too many persons at one time.
Wiktionary
- n. A rotating mechanical device that controls and counts passage between public areas, especially one that only allows passage after a charge has been made.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A revolving frame in a footpath, preventing the passage of horses or cattle, but admitting that of persons; a turnpike. See turnpike, n., 1.
- n. A similar arrangement for registering the number of persons passing through a gateway, doorway, or the like.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a gate consisting of a post that acts as a pivot for rotating arms; set in a passageway for controlling the persons entering
Etymologies
- turn (rotating) + stile (gate) (Wiktionary)
Examples
“They drew three million customers this year, led the league in turnstile clicks, in a place where just a few miles either direction, the main population base is crows.”
“In real life, however, Afghanistan is as Richard Nixon put it in The Real War, "has long been a cockpit of great-power intrigue for the same reason that it used to be called the turnstile of Asia's fate".”
The Huffington Post: Ehsan Azari Stanizai: Partition of Afghanistan Is a Quixotic Adventure
“Beyond the turnstile was a passage with walls painted white.”
“When I gestured to my Trasportation Access Pass, he made a rude gesture and waved to the coin turnstile.”
“Immediately opposite to the turnstile was the open door of a large building; flags surmounted it, and at each side was a large proclamation in red and white.”
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, September 16, 1914
“The stranger advancing from the turnstile was a decent-looking person, dressed in dark, tight-fitting clothes, and making no unnecessary or ostentatious display of linen, for his coat was buttoned tightly to the chin.”
“According to the Post, a judge has ordered the M.T.A. to open its hearings on minor violations, such as turnstile-jumping.”
“We now have the quieter read that as smaller kind of turnstile returns.”
“Pattillo home a "turnstile" since learning of his death.”
“I'm not sure fast-paced New Yorkers could stand for the kind of turnstile gridlock that could ensue, in the way that Bay Area or DC riders might be able to.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘turnstile’.
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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Killjoy et al
Namely, compounds consisting of a verb with a direct object immediately after it, without inflection
killjoy, lickspigot, quakebuttock, throttlebottom, scattergood, scapegrace, swillbowl, tosspot, breakfast, cutthroat, pickpocket, dreadnought and 84 more...
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Out
Words that connote making an exit, places to exit, means to an exit.
exit, way out, exeunt, outfall, opening, débouché, outlet, egress, vent, porthole, loophole, port and 49 more...
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Serendipity's Words
defenestration, mercurial, syzygy, wicked, iniquitous, metastable, demimonde, entropic, ephemeral, irreligious, frisbee, manifold and 474 more...
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Best words in Beatles songs
kaleidoscope, plasticine, porters, tangerine, marmalade, cellophane, turnstile, marshmallow, lingers, slither, restless, limitless and 91 more...
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And another
retrocausality, brusque, gainsay, cheerio, jaundiced, chamois, caw, craw, fudge, bubbler, shebang, bolo and 244 more...
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Reading Reading
Words from the works of Peter Reading - at least one from each (except the Schwitters-esque erosions, cut-ups etc).
overbright, pimpled, muskiness, effuse, stoup, maul, unlevel, viscid, perfidious, glibly, aloes, drouth and 449 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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Stuffie: Put Your Weight Into It
Stuffie #4. Stuff you push.
door, broom, mop, envelope, luck, button, agenda, vacuum cleaner, issue, boundary, lawnmower, pencil and 20 more...
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noggie42's Words
kleptocracy, zeugma, shilly-shally, hierophant, maunder, periwinkle, verisimilitude, diphthong, flippant, ludicrous, kreplach, gullet and 69 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for turnstile.

yarb Perhaps he is in charge of the turnstile, the palm of his hand constantly grey from receiving pennies.
- Peter Reading, C, 1984 Jul 4, 2008