turn

n. 1. The act of turning; movement or motion about, or as if about, a center or axis; revolution; as, the turn of a wheel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Change of direction, course, or tendency; different order, position, or aspect of affairs; alteration; vicissitude; as, the turn of the tide. [ 1913 Webster ]

At length his complaint took a favorable turn. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

The turns and varieties of all passions. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

Too well the turns of mortal chance I know. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One of the successive portions of a course, or of a series of occurrences, reckoning from change to change; hence, a winding; a bend; a meander. [ 1913 Webster ]

And all its [ the river's ] thousand turns disclose.
Some fresher beauty varying round. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A circuitous walk, or a walk to and fro, ending where it began; a short walk; a stroll. [ 1913 Webster ]

Come, you and I must walk a turn together. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

I will take a turn in your garden. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Successive course; opportunity enjoyed by alternation with another or with others, or in due order; due chance; alternate or incidental occasion; appropriate time. “Nobleness and bounty . . . had their turns in his [ the king's ] nature.” [ 1913 Webster ]

His turn will come to laugh at you again. Denham. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every one has a fair turn to be as great as he pleases. Collier. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Incidental or opportune deed or office; occasional act of kindness or malice; as, to do one an ill turn. [ 1913 Webster ]

Had I not done a friendes turn to thee? Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

thanks are half lost when good turns are delayed. Fairfax. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Convenience; occasion; purpose; exigence; as, this will not serve his turn. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have enough to serve mine own turn. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Form; cast; shape; manner; fashion; -- used in a literal or figurative sense; hence, form of expression; mode of signifying; as, the turn of thought; a man of a sprightly turn in conversation. [ 1913 Webster ]

The turn of both his expressions and thoughts is unharmonious. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Roman poets, in their description of a beautiful man, often mention the turn of his neck and arms. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. A change of condition; especially, a sudden or recurring symptom of illness, as a nervous shock, or fainting spell; as, a bad turn. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

10. A fall off the ladder at the gallows; a hanging; -- so called from the practice of causing the criminal to stand on a ladder which was turned over, so throwing him off, when the signal was given. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

11. A round of a rope or cord in order to secure it, as about a pin or a cleat. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Mining) A pit sunk in some part of a drift. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. (Eng. Law) A court of record, held by the sheriff twice a year in every hundred within his county. Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]

14. pl. (Med.) Monthly courses; menses. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

15. (Mus.) An embellishment or grace (marked thus, &unr_;), commonly consisting of the principal note, or that on which the turn is made, with the note above, and the semitone below, the note above being sounded first, the principal note next, and the semitone below last, the three being performed quickly, as a triplet preceding the marked note. The turn may be inverted so as to begin with the lower note, in which case the sign is either placed on end thus &unr_;, or drawn thus &unr_;. [ 1913 Webster ]

By turns. (a) One after another; alternately; in succession. (b) At intervals. “[ They ] feel by turns the bitter change.” Milton. --
In turn, in due order of succession. --
To a turn, exactly; perfectly; as, done to a turn; -- a phrase alluding to the practice of cooking on a revolving spit. --
To take turns, to alternate; to succeed one another in due order. --
Turn and turn about, by equal alternating periods of service or duty; by turns. --
Turn bench, a simple portable lathe, used on a bench by clock makers and watchmakers. --
Turn buckle. See Turnbuckle, in Vocabulary. --
Turn cap, a sort of chimney cap which turns round with the wind so as to present its opening to the leeward. G. Francis. --
Turn of life (Med.), change of life. See under Change. --
Turn screw, a screw driver. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To move round; to have a circular motion; to revolve entirely, repeatedly, or partially; to change position, so as to face differently; to whirl or wheel round; as, a wheel turns on its axis; a spindle turns on a pivot; a man turns on his heel. [ 1913 Webster ]

The gate . . . on golden hinges turning. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, to revolve as if upon a point of support; to hinge; to depend; as, the decision turns on a single fact. [ 1913 Webster ]

Conditions of peace certainly turn upon events of war. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To result or terminate; to come about; to eventuate; to issue. [ 1913 Webster ]

If we repent seriously, submit contentedly, and serve him faithfully, afflictions shall turn to our advantage. Wake. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To be deflected; to take a different direction or tendency; to be directed otherwise; to be differently applied; to be transferred; as, to turn from the road. [ 1913 Webster ]

Turn from thy fierce wrath. Ex. xxxii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways. Ezek. xxxiii. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

The understanding turns inward on itself, and reflects on its own operations. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To be changed, altered, or transformed; to become transmuted; also, to become by a change or changes; to grow; as, wood turns to stone; water turns to ice; one color turns to another; to turn Muslim. [ 1913 Webster ]

I hope you have no intent to turn husband. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cygnets from gray turn white. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To undergo the process of turning on a lathe; as, ivory turns well. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Specifically: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

(a) To become acid; to sour; -- said of milk, ale, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) To become giddy; -- said of the head or brain. [ 1913 Webster ]

I'll look no more;
Lest my brain turn. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

(c) To be nauseated; -- said of the stomach. [ 1913 Webster ]

(d) To become inclined in the other direction; -- said of scales. [ 1913 Webster ]

(e) To change from ebb to flow, or from flow to ebb; -- said of the tide. [ 1913 Webster ]

(f) (Obstetrics) To bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Print.) To invert a type of the same thickness, as temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted. [ 1913 Webster ]

To turn about, to face to another quarter; to turn around. --
To turn again, to come back after going; to return. Shak. --
To turn against, to become unfriendly or hostile to. --
To turn aside or
To turn away. (a) To turn from the direct course; to withdraw from a company; to deviate. (b) To depart; to remove. (c) To avert one's face. --
To turn back, to turn so as to go in an opposite direction; to retrace one's steps. --
To turn in. (a) To bend inward. (b) To enter for lodgings or entertainment. (c) To go to bed. [ Colloq. ] --
To turn into, to enter by making a turn; as, to turn into a side street. --
To turn off, to be diverted; to deviate from a course; as, the road turns off to the left. --
To turn on or
To turn upon. (a) To turn against; to confront in hostility or anger. (b) To reply to or retort. (c) To depend on; as, the result turns on one condition. --
To turn out. (a) To move from its place, as a bone. (b) To bend or point outward; as, his toes turn out. (c) To rise from bed. [ Colloq. ] (d) To come abroad; to appear; as, not many turned out to the fire. (e) To prove in the result; to issue; to result; as, the crops turned out poorly. --
To turn over, to turn from side to side; to roll; to tumble. --
To turn round. (a) To change position so as to face in another direction. (b) To change one's opinion; to change from one view or party to another. --
To turn to, to apply one's self to; to have recourse to; to refer to. “Helvicus's tables may be turned to on all occasions.” Locke. --
To turn to account,
profit,
advantage, or the like, to be made profitable or advantageous; to become worth the while. --
To turn under, to bend, or be folded, downward or under. --
To turn up. (a) To bend, or be doubled, upward. (b) To appear; to come to light; to transpire; to occur; to happen. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A turnspit. [ Obs. ] “ One that was her turnbroach.” Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mech.) (a) A loop or sleeve with a screw thread at one end and a swivel at the other, -- used for tightening a rod, stay, etc. (b) A gravitating catch, as for fastening a shutter, the end of a chain, or a hasp. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Chem.) The double cyanide of ferrous and ferric iron, a dark blue amorphous substance having a coppery luster, used in dyeing, calico printing, etc. Cf. Prussian blue, under Prussian. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who forsakes his party or his principles; a renegade; an apostate; a defector to the enemy. [ 1913 Webster ]

He is a turncoat, he was not true to his profession. Bunyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Capable of being turned down; specif. (Elec.), Designating, or pertaining to, an incandescent lamp with a small additional filament which can be made incandescent when only a small amount of light is required. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. Made to wear with the upper part turned down; as, a turndown collar. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. An act of refusing or of being refused; as, to get a turndown in an application for a job, a grant, etc. [ PJC ]

2. A decline in activity, especially business; a downturn; as, they expect a turndown in housing construction in the fall. [ PJC ]