turn about

verb, adv — 7 senses

turn about

verbalso spelled turn-about

1

Obsolete To revolve.

2

Dated To reverse one's position; to turn round.

3

Obsolete To turn (oneself) around.

Jesus tourned him about, and behelde her saynge: Doughter be off goode comforte, thy fayth hath made the safe.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew viij:

4

To change or reverse the position of.

5

To turn (something) one way and then another; to move about.

turn about

adv

1

Synonym of turn and turn about.

turn-about

adv

1

sequentially; in turn

He not only sold matches like any ordinary match-man, but he drew pavement pictures as well. He did these things turn-about according to the weather. If it was wet, he sold matches because the rain would have washed away his pictures if he had painted them. If it was fine, he was on his knees all day, making pictures […]1934, P[amela] L[yndon] Travers, “The Day Out”, in Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins; 1), London: Gerald Howe Ltd […], →OCLC, page 17:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for turn about and turn-about.