About-turn
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A turn of 180 degrees, typically in a military formation . British
- 2 Total reversal of opinion or attitude .
"A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward."
- 1 To turn 180 degrees, typically in a military formation. intransitive
Example
More examples"A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward."
Etymology
From the imperative phrase used in the military.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.