Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
turn on. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
turn on, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
turn on in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
turn on you have here. The definition of the word
turn on will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
turn on, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Pronunciation
Verb
turn on (third-person singular simple present turns on, present participle turning on, simple past and past participle turned on)
- (transitive) To set a flow of fluid or gas running by rotating a tap or valve.
Turn on the tap
- (transitive) To power up, to put into operation, to start, to activate (an appliance, light, mechanism, functionality etc.).
- 2006 Feb. 17, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4:
- Hello, IT. Have you tried turning it off and turning it on again? Ok. Well, are you sure that it's plugged in?
2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in Guardian:Robins, of Torquay, had denied a single charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. She claimed the microwave was accidentally turned on by one of the cats after the kitten got inside. But Knutton said the kitten was too small to even get onto the work surface.
Please turn the lights on so I can see what I'm reading.
Please turn on automatic updates.
- (intransitive, of a device) To start operating; to power up, to become on.
My computer won't turn on.
- (transitive) To introduce (someone to something), and especially to fill them with enthusiasm (about it); to intoxicate, give pleasure to ( + to an object of interest or excitement).
Attractive packaging can turn buyers on to a product.
Attractive showroom models can turn buyers on.
Hearing that song turned me on to jazz fusion.
- (transitive) To sexually arouse.
- John's a maid fetishist. Maid outfits really turn him on.
- (intransitive, slang) To take drugs.
1971, Chuck Barnes, Revenge, Timely Books:"Well, they seem to always have dope up there, and I like to turn on, too."
"You do?"
"Sure. Cops is just people. I don't drink, so I gotta do something to get my kicks."
- (transitive, slang) To cause to take up drugs, especially hallucinogens.
1976, Robert H. Coombs, Lincoln J. Fry, Patricia G. Lewis, Socialization in drug abuse:In fact, many youngsters will not even turn on a close friend if they know he has never used drugs. And it is rare indeed for a youth to actively seek out people to turn on.
- (transitive) To aim at.
He turned the searchlight on the passing planes.
Cornered by the authorities, the shooter turned the gun on himself.
- (transitive) To rebel against; to suddenly attack.
Suddenly all his friends turned on him.
2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in Guardian:She was Nicolas Sarkozy's pin-up for diversity, the first Muslim woman with north African parents to hold a major French government post. But Rachida Dati has now turned on her own party elite with such ferocity that some have suggested she should be expelled from the president's ruling party.
2020 June 14, Jitsiree Thongnoi, “Milk Tea Alliance: are young Thais turning on China over Hong Kong?”, in South China Morning Post, retrieved 2020-06-16:Milk Tea Alliance: are young Thais turning on China over Hong Kong?
- (ditransitive) To cause (someone) to rebel against or suddenly attack (someone else).
1984 August 18, X-Con, “Women In Cages”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 6, page 7:We need to be thinking about what it means the way they are locking us up, and turning us on each other. We need to start fighting for our rights together.
- (intransitive) To depend upon; to pivot around, to have as a central subject.
The argument turned on the question of whether or not jobs would be lost.
Usage notes
- In senses 1-7 turn on is a phrasal verb with on functioning as an adverbial particle. If the sense is transitive and the object is a noun, the particle on may feature before or after the noun. If the object is a personal pronoun, then the particle on must come after it.
- In senses 8-11, turn on comprises the verb turn used intransitively and on functioning as a preposition before a noun or pronoun.
Synonyms
Antonyms
- shut off (senses 1 to 5 inclusive)
- turn off (senses 1 to 5 inclusive + sense 10)
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Translations
to set a flow of fluid or gas running by rotating a tap or valve
(transitive) to activate an appliance, light, mechanism, functionality etc.
- Afrikaans: aanskakel (af)
- Albanian: please add this translation if you can
- Arabic: please add this translation if you can
- Armenian: միացնել (hy) (miacʿnel)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܠܗܹܐ (malhē), ܛܲܦܹܐ (ṭappē), ܡܲܦܠܸܚ (mapliḥ)
- Basque: piztu (eu)
- Belarusian: уключа́ць impf (uključácʹ), уключы́ць pf (uključýcʹ)
- Bulgarian: включвам (bg) impf (vključvam)
- Burmese: ဖွင့် (my) (hpwang.)
- Catalan: encendre (ca), engegar (ca)
- Cherokee: (a light) ᏓᏨᏍᏔᏍᎦ (datsvstasga)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 打開/打开 (zh) (dǎkāi), 開/开 (zh) (kāi)
- Czech: zapnout (cs)
- Danish: tænde (da), starte (op)
- Dutch: inschakelen (nl); aanzetten (nl) (device, apparatus); aandoen (nl) (light)
- Esperanto: aktivigi, enŝalti
- Estonian: please add this translation if you can
- Faroese: please add this translation if you can
- Finnish: laittaa päälle (lights, system); käynnistää (fi) (machine, apparatus)
- French: allumer (fr), mettre en marche (fr), ouvrir (fr), démarrer (fr)
- Galician: acender (gl)
- Georgian: ჩართვა (čartva)
- German: einschalten (de); anstellen (de) (device, apparatus); anmachen (de) (light)
- Greek: ανοίγω (el) (anoígo), ανάβω (el) (anávo), ενεργοποιώ (el) (energopoió)
- Hebrew: הדליק (hidlík), הפעיל (he)
- Hindi: चालू करना (cālū karnā)
- Hungarian: bekapcsol (hu) (device, machine, apparatus); felkapcsol (hu) (lights); beindít (hu) (system)
- Icelandic: kveikja á, setja í gang (referring to machines or appliances that produce some sort of motion or activity), skrúfa frá (referring to radio or TV, dated)
- Igbo: please add this translation if you can
- Indonesian: menghidupkan (id), menyalakan (id)
- Irish: cuir ar siúl
- Italian: accendere (it)
- Japanese: つける (ja) (tsukeru), スイッチを入れる (suitchi o ireru), ともす (ja) (tomosu), オンする (on suru)
- Khmer: បើក (km) (baək)
- Korean: 켜다 (ko) (kyeoda), 턴온하다 (teononhada)
- Kyrgyz: күйгүзүү (ky) (küygüzüü), жандыруу (ky) (jandıruu)
- Ladin: please add this translation if you can
- Ladino: please add this translation if you can
- Lao: ເປີດ (pœ̄t)
- Latin: please add this translation if you can
- Latvian: ieslēgt
- Lithuanian: įjungti
- Macedonian: вклу́чува (vklúčuva), (please verify) пу́шта (púšta), (please verify) па́ли (páli), (please verify) запа́лува (zapáluva)
- Malay: please add this translation if you can
- Maltese: xegħel
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Ngazidja Comorian: huuniha
- Norwegian: slå på, skru på (no)
- Norwegian Bokmål: please add this translation if you can
- Norwegian Nynorsk: please add this translation if you can
- Occitan: encendre (oc), alucar (oc)
- Polish: włączać (pl) impf, włączyć (pl) pf
- Portuguese: ligar (pt), acender (pt) (light source)
- Romanian: (please verify) deschide (ro), aprinde (ro), conecta (ro)
- Russian: включа́ть (ru) impf (vključátʹ), включи́ть (ru) pf (vključítʹ)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: укључи́вати impf, укљу́чити pf
- Roman: uključívati (sh) impf, ukljúčiti (sh) pf
- Sicilian: (please verify) addumari (scn)
- Slovak: zapnúť pf
- Slovene: vklopiti, vključiti, prižgati
- Spanish: encender (es), prender (es)
- Swahili: please add this translation if you can
- Swedish: sätta på (sv), slå på (sv), stänga på (sv) (informal)
- Tagalog: paandarin
- Thai: เปิด (th) (bpə̀ət)
- Ukrainian: вмикати impf (vmykaty), включати impf (vključaty)
- Venetian: inpiẑar, inpiar (vec)
- Veps: please add this translation if you can
- Vietnamese: bật (vi)
- Volapük: please add this translation if you can
- Võro: please add this translation if you can
- Votic: please add this translation if you can
- Yiddish: אָנצינדן (ontsindn)
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(intransitive) to power up
- Afrikaans: aanskakel (af)
- Armenian: միանալ (hy) (mianal)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܠܗܹܐ (malhē)
- Danish: starte (op), tænde (da)
- Dutch: inschakelen (nl), aangaan (nl)
- Finnish: käynnistyä (fi)
- French: s’allumer (fr), se mettre en marche (fr)
- Georgian: ჩართვა (čartva)
- Greek: ανάβω (el) (anávo), ανοίγω (el) (anoígo)
- Hebrew: נדלק (nidlák)
- Indonesian: menyala (id)
- Italian: accendersi (it)
- Japanese: つく (ja) (tsuku)
- Korean: 켜지다 (ko) (kyeojida), 턴온되다 (teonondoeda)
- Polish: włączać się (pl) impf, włączyć się (pl)
- Portuguese: ligar (pt)
- Romanian: deschide (ro), conecta (ro)
- Russian: включа́ться (ru) impf (vključátʹsja), включи́ться (ru) pf (vključítʹsja)
- Spanish: encenderse (es)
- Swedish: starta (sv)
- Tagalog: umandar, buksan (tl)
- Thai: เปิด (th) (bpə̀ət), ติด (th) (dtìt)
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to attract or arouse or fill with pleasure
- Armenian: please add this translation if you can
- Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
- Czech: please add this translation if you can
- Finnish: saada kiinnostumaan
- French: emballer (fr), chauffer (fr)
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: antörnen (de), anmachen (de), geil machen
- Hindi: please add this translation if you can
- Kazakh: please add this translation if you can
- Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
- Malayalam: please add this translation if you can
- Persian: please add this translation if you can
- Polish: podniecać (pl) impf
- Romanian: please add this translation if you can
- Russian: заводи́ть (ru) impf (zavodítʹ), завести́ (ru) pf (zavestí)
- Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
- Slovak: please add this translation if you can
- Slovene: please add this translation if you can
- Swedish: tända (sv)
- Tamil: please add this translation if you can
- Telugu: please add this translation if you can
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Turkish: please add this translation if you can
- Ukrainian: збуджувати impf (zbudžuvaty), збудити pf (zbudyty)
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