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U-turn

noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A turn in a vehicle carried out by driving in a semicircle in order to travel in the opposite direction.

    "What's disappointing about all this doom and gloom is that the franchise has made the kind of whiplashing U-turn you might see in its car-chase sequences."

  2. 2
    Alternative letter-case form of U-turn. alt-of
  3. 3
    complete reversal of direction of travel wordnet
  4. 4
    A reversal of policy or opinion. figuratively

    "The government have done a U-turn and are now supporting greater European integration instead of opposing it."

Verb
  1. 1
    To turn a vehicle in a semicircle so as to face the opposite direction (∩)).
  2. 2
    To shift from one opinion or decision to its opposite. intransitive

    "She made the case for cutting taxes as “the right thing to do morally and economically”, despite having just U-turned over her decision to abolish the 45p top rate of income tax."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From U + turn, from the similarity to the shape of the letter U.

Etymology 2

From U + turn, from the similarity to the shape of the letter U.

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