Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A mechanical device used to limit the passage of individuals moving from one public area to another to one at a time, consisting of a vertical post or frame with several bars that project from it and revolve at the same point, with the bar in the highest position being parallel to the floor.
- noun 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.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A post surmounted by four horizontal arms which move round as a person passes through; a turnpike.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A revolving frame in a footpath, preventing the passage of horses or cattle, but admitting that of persons; a turnpike. See
turnpike , n., 1. - noun A similar arrangement for registering the number of persons passing through a gateway, doorway, or the like.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
rotating mechanical device thatcontrols andcounts passage betweenpublic areas , especially one that only allows passage after acharge has been made.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a gate consisting of a post that acts as a pivot for rotating arms; set in a passageway for controlling the persons entering
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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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.
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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".
Ehsan Azari Stanizai: Partition of Afghanistan Is a Quixotic Adventure 2010
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Beyond the turnstile was a passage with walls painted white.
Worldshaker Richard Harland 2009
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Beyond the turnstile was a passage with walls painted white.
Worldshaker Richard Harland 2009
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When I gestured to my Trasportation Access Pass, he made a rude gesture and waved to the coin turnstile.
November 24th, 2003 jackdogblog 2003
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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 Various 1898
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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.
Aurora Floyd. A Novel Mary Elizabeth 1863
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According to the Post, a judge has ordered the M.T.A. to open its hearings on minor violations, such as turnstile-jumping.
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According to the Post, a judge has ordered the M.T.A. to open its hearings on minor violations, such as turnstile-jumping.
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We now have the quieter read that as smaller kind of turnstile returns.
B.O. In The Fall Steve Hulett 2008
yarb commented on the word turnstile
Perhaps he is in charge of the turnstile, the palm of his hand constantly grey from receiving pennies.
- Peter Reading, C, 1984
July 4, 2008