about-turn

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See also: about turn

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From the imperative phrase used in the military.

Pronunciation

Noun

about-turn (plural about-turns)

  1. (British, military) A turn of 180 degrees, typically in a military formation.[1]
  2. Total reversal of opinion or attitude.[1]
    • 2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph:
      A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward.

Translations

Verb

about-turn (third-person singular simple present about-turns, present participle about-turning, simple past and past participle about-turned)

  1. (intransitive) To turn 180 degrees, typically in a military formation.

Synonyms

Translations

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “about-turn”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 7.

Anagrams