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turn

Pronunciation: /tɜːn/

Translate turn | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
French translation of turn

A. n

  • 1 (in games, sequence) tour (m) whose turn is it? = c'est à qui le tour? to be sb's turn to do = être le tour de qn de faire to take turns at sleeping, to take it in turns to sleep = dormir à tour de rôle by turns = tour à tour to speak out of turn = commettre un impair
  • 2 (circular movement) tour (m) to give sth a turn = tourner qch to do a turn [dancer] = faire un tour
  • 3 (in vehicle) virage (m) to make or do a left/right turn = tourner à gauche/à droite
  • 4 (bend, side road) tournant (m), virage (m) take the next right turn, take the next turn on the right = prenez la prochaine (rue) à droite
  • 5 (change, development) tournure (f) to take a turn for the better [things, events, situation] = prendre une meilleure tournure to take a turn for the worse [situation] = se dégrader; [health] = s'aggraver
  • 6 (GB) (colloq) (attack) crise (f) a dizzy turn = un vertige it gave me quite a turn, it gave me a nasty turn = ça m'a fait un coup (fam)

B. vtr

  • 3 (change direction of) tourner [chair, head, face, car]
  • 4 (focus direction of) to turn [sth] on sb = braquer [qch] sur qn [gun, hose, torch]
  • 5 (transform) to turn sth white/black = blanchir/noircir qch to turn sth opaque = rendre qch opaque to turn sth into = transformer qch en [office, car park, desert] to turn a book into a film = adapter un livre pour le cinéma to turn sb into [magician] = changer qn en [frog]; [experience] = faire de qn [extrovert, maniac]
  • 6 (colloq) (become) devenir [Conservative, Communist] businessman turned politician = ex-homme d'affaires devenu homme politique
  • 7 (deflect) détourner [person, conversation] (towards vers de) (from de)
  • 8 (colloq) (pass the age of) he has turned 50 = il a 50 ans passés she has just turned 30 = elle vient d'avoir 30 ans

C. vi

  • 1 (change direction) [person, car, plane, road] tourner; [ship] virer to turn down or into = tourner dans [street, alley] to turn towards = tourner en direction de [village, mountains]
  • 3 (revolve) [key, wheel, planet] tourner; [person] se tourner
  • 6 (resort to) to turn to = se tourner vers [person, religion] to turn to drink/drugs = se mettre à boire/se droguer I don't know where to turn = je ne sais plus où donner de la tête (fam)
  • 7 (change) to turn into [person, tadpole] = se transformer en [frog]; [sofa] = se transformer en [bed]; [situation, evening] = tourner à [farce, disaster] to turn to [substance] = se changer en [ice, gold]; [fear, surprise] = faire place à [horror, relief]
  • 8 (become by transformation) devenir [pale, cloudy, green] to turn white/black/red = blanchir/noircir/rougir the weather is turning cold/warm = le temps se rafraîchit/se réchauffe
  • 9 (colloq) (become) devenir [Conservative, Communist] businessman turned politician = ex-homme d'affaires devenu homme politique

D. phr

  • [answer, speak] à tour de rôle she spoke to each of us in turn = elle nous a parlé chacun à notre tour

Idioms

to do sb a good turn

Phrasal verbs

turn against

A. se retourner contre
B. retourner [qn] contre

turn around

A. a (to face other way) [person] se retourner; [bus, vehicle] faire demi-tour b (revolve, rotate) [object, windmill, dancer] tourner
B. tourner [qch] dans l'autre sens [object]

turn aside

se détourner (from de)

turn away

A. se détourner
B. refuser [spectator, applicant]; ne pas laisser entrer [salesman, caller]

turn back

A. a (on foot) rebrousser chemin there's no turning back = il n'est pas question de revenir en arrière b (in book) revenir
B. reculer [dial, clock]
C. refouler [people, vehicles]

turn down

a (reduce) baisser [volume, radio, gas] b (fold over) rabattre [sheet, collar]; retourner [corner of page] c (refuse) refuser [person, request]; rejeter [offer, suggestion]

turn off

A. a [driver, walker] tourner b [motor, fan] s'arrêter
B. éteindre [light, oven, TV, radio]; fermer [tap]; couper [water, gas, engine]
C. (leave) quitter [road]
D. (colloq) rebuter

turn on

a allumer [light, oven, TV, radio, gas]; ouvrir [tap] b (colloq) exciter [person]

turn out

A. a (be eventually) to turn out well/badly = bien/mal se terminer it depends how things turn out = cela dépend de la façon dont les choses vont tourner to turn out to be wrong/easy = se révéler faux/facile it turns out that they know each other already = il se trouve qu'ils se connaissent déjà b (come out) [crowd, people] venir
B. a (turn off) éteindre [light] b (empty) vider [pocket, bag]; [Culin] démouler [mousse] c (produce) fabriquer [goods]; former [scientists, graduates]

turn over

A. a (roll over) [person, vehicle] se retourner b (turn page) tourner la page c [engine] se mettre en marche
B. a (turn) tourner [page, paper]; retourner [card, object, mattress, soil, patient] b (hand over) remettre [object, money, find, papers]; livrer [person] (to à); remettre la succession de [company]

turn round

(GB)
turn around

turn up

A. a (arrive, show up) arriver, se pointer (fam) don't worry—it will turn up = ne t'inquiète pas—tu finiras par le retrouver b (present itself) [opportunity, job] se présenter c (point up) [corner, edge] être relevé/-e
B. a (increase, intensify) augmenter [heating, volume, gas]; mettre [qch] plus fort [TV, radio, music] b (point up) relever [collar]

turn in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of turn in the British & World English dictionary Definition of turn in the US English dictionary
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