Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
{To turn one's coat}, to change one's uniform or colors; to
go over to the opposite party.
{To turn one's goods} or {money}, and the like, to exchange
in the course of trade; to keep in lively exchange or
circulation; to gain or increase in trade.
{To turn one's hand to}, to adapt or apply one's self to; to
engage in.
{To turn out}.
(a) To drive out; to expel; as, to turn a family out of
doors; to turn a man out of office.
I'll turn you out of my kingdom. -- Shak.
(b) to put to pasture, as cattle or horses.
(c) To produce, as the result of labor, or any process of
manufacture; to furnish in a completed state.
(d) To reverse, as a pocket, bag, etc., so as to bring the
inside to the outside; hence, to produce.
(e) To cause to cease, or to put out, by turning a
stopcock, valve, or the like; as, to turn out the
lights.
{To turn over}.
(a) To change or reverse the position of; to overset; to
overturn; to cause to roll over.
(b) To transfer; as, to turn over business to another
hand.
(c) To read or examine, as a book, while, turning the
leaves. ``We turned o'er many books together.''
--Shak.
(d) To handle in business; to do business to the amount
of; as, he turns over millions a year. [Colloq.]
{To turn over a new leaf}. See under {Leaf}.
{To turn tail}, to run away; to retreat ignominiously.
{To turn the back}, to flee; to retreat.
{To turn the back on} or
{upon}, to treat with contempt; to reject or refuse
unceremoniously.
{To turn the corner}, to pass the critical stage; to get by
the worst point; hence, to begin to improve, or to
succeed.
{To turn the die} or {dice}, to change fortune.
{To turn the edge} or {point of}, to bend over the edge or
point of so as to make dull; to blunt.
{To turn the head} or {brain of}, to make giddy, wild,
insane, or the like; to infatuate; to overthrow the reason
or judgment of; as, a little success turned his head.
{To turn the scale} or {balance}, to change the
preponderance; to decide or determine something doubtful.
{To turn the stomach of}, to nauseate; to sicken.
{To turn the tables}, to reverse the chances or conditions of
success or superiority; to give the advantage to the
person or side previously at a disadvantage.
{To turn tippet}, to make a change. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
{To turn to} {profit, advantage}, etc., to make profitable or
advantageous.
{To turn up}.
(a) To turn so as to bring the bottom side on top; as, to
turn up the trump.
(b) To bring from beneath to the surface, as in plowing,
digging, etc.
(c) To give an upward curve to; to tilt; as, to turn up
the nose.
{To turn upon}, to retort; to throw back; as, to turn the
arguments of an opponent upon himself.
{To turn upside down}, to confuse by putting things awry; to
throw into disorder.
This house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler
died. --Shak.
Turn \Turn\, 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.
The gate . . . on golden hinges turning. --Milton.
2. Hence, to revolve as if upon a point of support; to hinge;
to depend; as, the decision turns on a single fact.
Conditions of peace certainly turn upon events of
war. --Swift.
3. To result or terminate; to come about; to eventuate; to
issue.
If we repent seriously, submit contentedly, and
serve him faithfully, afflictions shall turn to our
advantage. --Wake.
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.
Turn from thy fierce wrath. --Ex. xxxii.
12.
Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways. --Ezek.
xxxiii. 11.
The understanding turns inward on itself, and
reflects on its own operations. --Locke.
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 Mohammedan.
I hope you have no intent to turn husband. --Shak.
Cygnets from gray turn white. --Bacon.
6. To undergo the process of turning on a lathe; as, ivory
turns well.
7. Specifically:
(a) To become acid; to sour; -- said of milk, ale, etc.
(b) To become giddy; -- said of the head or brain.
I'll look no more; Lest my brain turn. --Shak.
(c) To be nauseated; -- said of the stomach.
(d) To become inclined in the other direction; -- said of
scales.
(e) To change from ebb to flow, or from flow to ebb; --
said of the tide.
(f) (Obstetrics) To bring down the feet of a child in the
womb, in order to facilitate delivery.
8. (Print.) To invert a type of the same thickness, as
temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.
{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 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 {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; 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.