Turning
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A turn or deviation from a straight course. Ireland, UK
"Take the second turning on the left."
- 2 act of changing in practice or custom wordnet
- 3 At hockey, a foul committed by a player attempting to hit the ball who interposes their body between the ball and an opposing player trying to do the same.
- 4 the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course wordnet
- 5 The cutting of wood or metal on a lathe to shape it as needed.
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 the activity of shaping something on a lathe wordnet
- 7 The act of one who turns (rotates or twists).
"Still talking—more to herself than to the children—she swam into a majestical dance of the stateliest balancings, the haughtiest wheelings and turnings aside, the most dignified sinkings, the gravest risings, all joined together by the elaboratest interlacing steps and circles."
- 8 the end-product created by shaping something on a lathe wordnet
- 9 One of the four eras, each lasting for about 21 years, that make up a saeculum according to the Strauss-Howe generational theory.
"Howe and Strauss predicted that in the Fourth Turning, Millennials would unite behind their president."
- 10 a movement in a new direction wordnet
- 11 Shavings produced by turning something on a lathe. plural, plural-only
"The turnings get into your trouser turnups!"
- 12 a shaving created when something is produced by turning it on a lathe wordnet
- 1 present participle and gerund of turn form-of, gerund, participle, present
"The Earth is turning about its axis as we speak."
Example
More examples"It is no wonder that you are turning down the proposal."
Etymology
From Middle English turnyng, turnynge, from Old English tyrning, turnung, equivalent to turn + -ing.
From Middle English turninge, turnynge, turninde, turnand, turnende, from Old English tyrnende, turniende, present participle of Old English tyrnan, turnian (“to turn”). Equivalent to turn + -ing.
Related phrases
More for "turning"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.