Etymology : Middle English; partly from Old English tyrnan and turnian to turn, from Medieval Latin tornare, from Latin, to turn on a lathe, from tornus lathe, from Greek tornos; partly from Old French torner, tourner to turn, from Medieval Latin tornare; akin to Lat
Pronunciation : 't&rn
Function : verb
Date : before 12th century
1. change direction; exchange; submit; (Slang) rob. to buy and then sell something to customers The turn-over at that discount store is very rapid. turn overv.
2. place into the hands or custody of; "turn the files over to me, please"; "he turned over the prisoner to his lawyers" [syn: pass, hand, reach, pass on, give].
3. cause to overturn from an upright or normal position; "the cat knocked over the flower vase"; "the clumsy customer turned over the vase" [syn: overturn, tip over, upset, knock over, bowl over].
4. to rotate or cause to rotate: "the child rolled down the hill"; "she rolled the ball"; "they rolled their eyes at his words"; "turn over to your left side" [syn: roll, revolve].
5. turn up, loosen, or remove earth; "dig we must"; "turn over the soil for aeration" [syn: dig, delve, cut into].
6. do business worth a certain amount of money; "the company turns over ten million dollars a year".
7. cause to move around a center so as to show another side of; "turn a page of a book" [syn: turn].
8. turn from an upright or normal position; "the big vase overturned" [syn: overturn, tip over].
9. turn upside down, or throw so as to reverse; "flip a coin"; "turn over the pancakes" [syn: flip, flip over].
10. think about carefully; weigh; "they considered the possibility of a strike"; "turn the proposal over in your mind" [syn: consider, debate, moot, deliberate].
11. do business worth a certain amount of money; "The company turns over ten million dollars a year".
12. 1. If you turn something over, or if it turns over, it is moved so that the top part is now facing downwards. Liz picked up the blue envelope and turned it over curiously I don't suppose you thought to turn over the tape, did you? The buggy turned over and Nancy was thrown out.
13. If you turn over, for example when you are lying in bed, you move your body so that you are lying in a different position. Ann turned over in her bed once more.
14. If you turn something over in your mind, you think carefully about it. Even when she didn't say anything you could see:
her turning things over in her mind.
15. If you turn something over to someone, you give it to them when they ask for it, because they have a right to it. I would, indeed, turn the evidence over to the police The lawyer turned over the release papers. = hand over.
16. If you turn over a job or responsibility that you have, you give it to someone else, so that you no longer have it. The King may turn over some of his official posts to his son.
17. If you turn over when you are watching television, you change to another channel. Whenever he's on TV, I turn over. see also:
turnover.