(a) To translate; to construe; as, to turn the Iliad.
Who turns a Persian tale for half a crown.
Pope.
(b) To make acid or sour; to ferment; to curdle, etc.: as, to turn
cider or wine; electricity turns milk quickly.
(c) To sicken; to nauseate; as, an emetic turns one's stomach.
To be turned of, be advanced beyond; as, to be turned of sixty-six. —
To turn a cold shoulder to, to treat with neglect or indifference. — To
turn a corner, to go round a corner. — To turn adrift, to cast off, to
cease to care for. — To turn a flange (Mech.), to form a flange on, as
around a metal sheet or boiler plate, by stretching, bending, and
hammering, or rolling the metal. — To turn against. (a) To direct
against; as, to turn one's arguments against himself. (b) To make
unfavorable or hostile to; as, to turn one's friends against him. — To
turn a hostile army, To turn the enemy's flank, or the like (Mil.), to
pass round it, and take a position behind it or upon its side. — To
turn a penny, or To turn an honest penny, to make a small profit by
trade, or the like. — To turn around one's finger, to have complete
control of the will and actions of; to be able to influence at
pleasure. — To turn aside, to avert. — To turn away. (a) To dismiss
from service; to discard; as, to turn away a servant. (b) To avert; as,
to turn away wrath or evil. — To turn back. (a) To give back; to
return.
We turn not back the silks upon the merchants, When we have soiled
them.
Shak.
(b) To cause to return or retrace one's steps; hence, to drive away; to
repel. Shak. — To turn down. (a) To fold or double down. (b) To turn
over so as to conceal the face of; as, to turn down cards. (c) To
lower, or reduce in size, by turning a valve, stopcock, or the like;
as, turn down the lights. — To turn in. (a) To fold or double under;
as, to turn in the edge of cloth. (b) To direct inwards; as, to turn
the toes in when walking. (c) To contribute; to deliver up; as, he
turned in a large amount. [Colloq.] — To turn in the mind, to revolve,
ponder, or meditate upon; — with about, over, etc. " Turn these ideas
about in your mind." I. Watts. — To turn off. (a) To dismiss
contemptuously; as, to turn off a sycophant or a parasite. (b) To give
over; to reduce. (c) To divert; to deflect; as, to turn off the
thoughts from serious subjects; to turn off a joke. (d) To accomplish;
to perform, as work. (e) (Mech.) To remove, as a surface, by the
process of turning; to reduce in size by turning. (f) To shut off, as a
fluid, by means of a valve, stopcock, or other device; to stop the
passage of; as, to turn off the water or the gas. — To turn on, to
cause to flow by turning a valve, stopcock, or the like; to give
passage to; as, to turn on steam. — 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 (?), 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.