right-about-face

noun, verb, adv — 3 senses

right-about-face

noun

1

Synonym of about-face.

The Toronto share market staged a right-about face in the last hour today and advanced in active trading after four hours of dullness and small sales.1937 July 6, The New York Times, “Canadian Shares Rise in Late Spurt”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 May 2023:

right-about-face

verb

1

Synonym of about-face.

So we right-about-faced and started back again, stumbling as if we were boozed, slipping, puffing, splashing, and bespattering ourselves. One of the boys cried to me through the wind and rain: 'We'll go back with you as far as your home, all the same. As we've nowhere to go we've plenty of time.'1930, Henri Barbusse, “On Leave”, in Great First World War Stories, London: Chancellor Press, published 1994, →ISBN, page 470:

right-about-face

adv

1

Synonym of about-face.

The urge to reach the Klondike had become a habit more than an obsession, and when at last on June 30 they walked glumly down the gangplank at Dawson most of them turned right-about-face and went home again.1958, Pierre Berton, Klondike: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush, London: W. H. Allen, published 1960, pages 210–211:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.