King James Bible Dictionary

TURN, verb transitive [Latin turnus; torniare, to turn; tornare, to return; torneare, tornire, to turn to fence round, to tilt; torniamento, tournament.]

1. To cause to move in a circular course; as, to turn a wheel; to turn a spindle; to turn the body.

2. To change or shift sides; to put the upper side downwards, or one side in the place of the other. It is said a hen turns her eggs often when sitting.

3. To alter, as a position.

Expert

When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway of battle.

4. To cause to preponderate; to change the state of a balance; as, to turn the scale.

5. To bring the inside out; as, to turn a coat.

6. To alter, as the posture of the body, or direction of the look.

The monarch turns him to his royal guest.

7. To form on a lathe; to make round.

8. To form; to shape; used in the participle; as a body finely turned.

Him limbs how turn'd.

9. To change; to transform; as, to turn evil to good; to turn goods into money.

Impatience turns an ague into a fever.

I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. 2 Samuel 15:31.

10. To metamorphose; as, to turn a worm into a winged insect.

11. To alter or change, as color; as, to turn green to blue.

12. To change or alter in any manner; to vary.

13. To translate; as, to turn Greek into English.

--Who turns a Persian tale for half a crown.

14. To change, as the manner of writing; as, to turn prose into verse.

15. To change, as from one opinion or party to another; as, to turn one from a tory to whig; to turn Mohammedan or a pagan to a Christian.

16. To change in regard to inclination or temper.

TURN thee to me, and have mercy upon me. Psalms 25:16.

17. To change or alter from one purpose or effect to another.

God will make these evils the occasion of greater good, by turning them to our advantage.

18. To transfer.

Therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom to David. 1 Chronicles 10:14.

19. To cause to nauseate or lothe; as, to turn the stomach.

20. To make giddy.

Eastern priests in giddy circles run,

And turn their heads to imitate the sun.

21. To infatuate; to make mad, wild or enthusiastic; as, to turn the brain.

22. To change direction to or from any point; as, to turn the eyes to the heavens; to turn the eyes from a disgusting spectacle.

23. To direct by a change to a certain purpose or object; to direct, as the inclination, thoughts or mind. I have turned my mind to the subject.

My thoughts are turn'd on peace.

24. To revolve; to agitate in the mind.

TURN those ideas about in your mind.

25. To bend from a perpendicular direction; as, to turn the edge of an instrument.

26. To move from a direct course or strait line; to cause to deviate; as, to turn a horse from the road, or a ship from her course.

27. To apply by a change of use.

When the passage is open, land will be turned most to cattle.

28. To reverse.

The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee. Deuteronomy 30:3.

29. To keep passing and changing in the course of trade; as, to turn money or stock two or three times in the year.

30. To adapt the mind; chiefly in the participle.

He was perfectly well turned for trade.

31. To make acid; to sour; as, to turn cider or wine; to turn milk.

32. To persuade to renounce an opinion; to dissuade from a purpose, or cause to change sides. You cannot turn a firm man.

To turn aside, to avert.

To turn away, to dismiss from service; to discard; as, to turn away a servant.

1. To avert; as, to turn away wrath or evil.

To turn back, to return; as, to turn back goods to the seller. [Little used.]

To turn down, to fold or double down.

To turn in, to fold or double; as, to turn in the edge of cloth.

To turn off, to dismiss contemptuously; as, to turn off a sycophant or parasite.

1. To give over; to resign. We are not so wholly turned off from that reversion.

2. To divert; to deflect; as, to turn off the thoughts from serious subjects.

To be turned of, to be advanced beyond; as, to be turned of sixty six.

To turn out, to drive out; to expel; as, to turn a family out of doors, or out of the house.

1. To put to pasture; as cattle or horses.

To turn over, to change sides; to roll over.

1. To transfer; as, to turn over a business to another hand.

2. To open and examine one leaf after another; as, to turn over a concordance.

3. To overset.

TURN to, to have recourse to.

Helvetius' tables may be turned to on all occasions.

To turn upon, to retort; to throw back; as, to turn the arguments of an opponent upon himself.

To turn the back, to flee; to retreat. Exodus 23:27.

To turn the back upon, to quit with contempt; to forsake.

To turn the die or dice, to change fortune.

TURN, verb intransitive To move round; to have a circular motion; as, a wheel turns on its axis; a spindle turns on a pivot; a man turns on his heel.

1. To be directed.

The understanding turns inwards on itself, and reflects on its own operations.

2. To show regard by directing the look towards any thing.

TURN mighty monarch, turn this way;

Do not refuse to hear.

3. To move the body round. He turned to me with a smile.

4. To move; to change posture. Let your body be at rest; do not turn in the least.

5. To deviate; as, to turn from the road or course.

6. To alter; to be changed or transformed; as, wood turns to stone; water turns to ice; one color turns to another.

7. To become by change; as, the fur of certain animals turns in winter.

Cygnets from gray turn white.

8. To change sides. A man in a fever turns often.

9. To change opinions or parties; as, to turn Christian or Mohammedan.

10. To change the mind or conduct.

TURN from thy fierce wrath. Exodus 32:12.

11. To change to acid; as, mild turns suddenly during a thunder storm.

12. To be brought eventually; to result or terminate in. This trade has not turned to much account or advantage. The application of steam turns to good account, both on land and water.

13. To depend on for decision. The question turns on a single fact or point.

14. To become giddy.

I'll look no more,

Lest my brain turn

15. To change a course of life; to repent.

TURN ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die? Ezekiel 33:9.

16. To change the course or direction; as, the tide turns.

To turn about, to move the face to another quarter.

To turn away, to deviate.

1. To depart from; to forsake.turn in, to bend inwards.

1. To enter for lodgings or entertainment. Genesis 19:2.

2. To go to bed.

To turn off, to be diverted; to deviate from a course. The road turns off to the left.

To turn on or upon, to reply or retort.

1. To depend on.

To turn out, to move from its place, as a bone.

1. To bend outwards; to project.

2. To rise from bed; also, to come abroad.

To turn over, to turn from side to side; to roll; to tumble.

1. To change sides or parties.

To turn to, to be directed; as, the needle turns to the magnetic pole.

To turn under, to bend or be folded downwards.

To turn up, to bend or be doubled upwards.

TURN, noun The act of turning; movement or motion in a circular direction, whether horizontally, vertically or otherwise; a revolution; as the turn of a wheel.

1. A winding; a meandering course; a bend or bending; as the turn of river.

2. A walk to and from.

I will take a turn in your garden.

3. Change; alteration; vicissitude; as the turns and varieties of passions.

Too well the turns of mortal chance I know.

4. Successive course.

Nobleness and bounty--which virtues had their turns in the king's nature.

5. Manner of proceeding; change of direction. This affair may take a different turn from that which we expect.

6. Chance; hap; opportunity.

Every one has a fair turn to be as great as he pleases.

7. Occasion; incidental opportunity.

An old dog falling from his speed, was loaded at every turn with blows and reproaches.

8. Time at which, by successive vicissitudes, any thing is to be had or done. They take each other's turn

His turn will come to laugh at you again.

9. Action of kindness or malice.

Thanks are half lost when good turns are delay'd.

Some malicious natures place their delight in doing ill turns.

10. Reigning inclination or course. Religion is not to be adapted to the turn and fashion of the age.

11. A step off the ladder at the gallows.

12. Convenience; occasion; purpose; exigence; as, this will not serve his turn

13. Form; cast; shape; manner; in a literal or figurative sense; as the turn of thought; a man of a sprightly turn in conversation.

The turn of his thoughts and expression is unharmonious.

Female virtues are of a domestic turn

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

14. Manner of arranging words in a sentence.

15. Change; new position of things. Some evil happens at every turn of affairs.

16. Change of direction; as the turn of the tide from flood to ebb.

17. One round of a rope or cord.

18. In mining, a pit sunk in some part of a drift.

19. turn or tourn, in law. The sheriff's turn is a court of record, held by the sheriff twice a year in every hundred within his county. [England.]

By turns, one after another; alternately.

They assist each other by turns.

1. At intervals.

They feel by turns the bitter change.

To take turns, to take each other's places alternately.

TURN'-BENCH, noun [turn and bench.] A kind of iron lathe.

TURN'COAT, noun [turn and coat.] One who forsakes his party or principles.

TURN'ED, participle passive Moved in a circle; changed.

TUR'NEP, noun [Latin napus, a turnep ] A bulbous root or plant of the genus Brassica, of great value for food; an esculent root of several varieties.

TURN'ER, noun One whose occupation is to form things with a lathe; one who turns.

TURN'ERITE, noun A rare mineral occurring in small crystals of a yellowish brown color, externally brilliant and translucent.

TURN'ERY, noun The art of forming into a cylindrical shape by the lathe.

1. Things made by a turner or in the lathe.

TURN'ING, participle present tense Moving in a circle; changing; winding.

TURN'ING, noun A winding; a bending course; flexure; meander.

1. Deviation from the way or proper course.

TURN'INGNESS, noun Quality of turning; tergivesation. [Not in use.]

TURN'PIKE, noun [turn and pike.] Strictly, a frame consisting of two bars crossing each other at right angles, and turning on a post or pin, to hinder the passage of breasts, but admitting a person to pass between the arms.

1. A gate set across a road to stop travelers and carriages till toll is paid for keeping the road in repair.

2. A turnpike road.

3. In military affairs, a beam filled with spikes to obstruct passage.

TURN'PIKE, verb transitive To form, as a road, in the manner of a turnpike road; to throw the path of a road into a rounded form.

TURN'PIKE-ROAD, noun A road on which turnpikes or toll-gates are established by law, and which are made and kept in repair by the toll collected from travelers or passengers who use the road.

TURN'SERVING, noun [turn and serve.] The act or practice of serving one's turn or promoting private interest.

TURN'-SICK, adjective [turn and sick.] Giddy.

TURN'SOLE, noun [turn and Latin sol, the sun.] A plant of the genus Heliotropium, so named because its flower is supposed to turn towards the sun.

TURN'SPIT, noun [turn and spit.] A person who turns a spit.

His lordship is his majesty's turnspit

1. A variety of the dog, so called from turning the spit.

TURN'STILE, noun [turn and stile.] A turnpike in a foot-path.

TURN'STONE, noun [turn and stone.] A bird, called the sea-dotterel, the Tringa morinella, a little larger than an English blackbird. This bird takes its name from its practice of turning up small stones in search of insects.