# turn out

Pronunciation: say "turn-OWT" US /ˌtɝn ˈaʊt/, UK /ˌtɜːn ˈaʊt/; AUS

## Phrasal verb

1. To end up a particular way, or be a particular thing, as the result of what happens.
   - Simple: To happen or end in a certain way.
   - _Despite the rain, the picnic turned out wonderfully._
   - _Nobody can say how a child will turn out, however carefully they are raised._
2. To become apparent or known, especially in the phrases it turns out and as it turns out.
   - Simple: To become clear or known, often in "it turns out" or "as it turned out."
   - _It turns out that the missing keys were in his coat pocket all along._
   - _Rumors like these often turn out to be false._
3. To come and be present at an event or gathering; to show up.
   - Simple: To come to an event or place, the way a crowd does.
   - _Thousands of fans turned out to welcome the team home._
   - _Only a handful of members bothered to turn out for the vote._
4. To switch off a light or other device.
   - Simple: To switch off a light or a machine.
   - _She turned out the lamp and lay listening to the rain._
   - _Turn out the gas under the kettle before it boils dry._
6. To produce or make something, as a factory, workshop, or school does.
   - Simple: To make or produce something.
   - _The plant can turn out two thousand cars a week._
   - _The nursing program has turned out some of the best nurses in the state._
7. To succeed or come out well.
   - Simple: To come out well or work the way you wanted.
   - _None of the night shots turned out, so we'll have to go back._
   - _If the recipe doesn't turn out, we'll order pizza._
8. To force someone to leave a place, or to refuse them service or shelter.
   - Simple: To make someone leave a place, or not let them stay.
   - _The landlord turned the whole family out into the street in January._
   - _Voters turned the mayor out of office after a single term._
9. To persuade people to come out and vote.
   - Simple: To get people to go out and vote.
   - _The campaign spent millions trying to turn out young voters._
   - _Volunteers knocked on every door in the final week to turn out the vote._
10. To remove something from a mold, bowl, or similar container.
   - Simple: To take food or other things out of a bowl, pan, or mold.
   - _Let the custard set overnight before you turn it out onto a serving plate._
   - _She turned out the loaf and tapped the bottom to hear whether it sounded hollow._
11. To get out of bed and up for the day. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To get out of bed.
   - _On the farm we turned out at five, dressed in the dark, and went straight to the barn._
   - _Come on, turn out, sleepyhead, your breakfast is getting cold._
12. To leave a road, turning off it into a driveway, lane, or roadside space.
   - Simple: To leave a road by turning off it.
   - _Turn out at the gravel lane just past the bridge._
   - _The logging truck turned out onto the shoulder to let us pass._
13. To empty a pocket, bag, or other container so its contents can be inspected.
   - Simple: To take everything out of a pocket or bag so someone can look at it.
   - _The guard made him turn out his pockets, and a stolen key fell to the floor._
   - _Customs officers asked her to turn out her suitcase onto the counter._
14. To stop work and walk out in order to take part in a strike.
   - Simple: To stop working and leave the job to join a strike.
   - _When the union called the strike, every miner in the valley turned out._
   - _The dockworkers voted to turn out in support of the fired drivers._
15. To put cattle out to graze in a pasture.
   - Simple: To let cows out into a field to eat grass.
   - _In May we turn out the heifers onto the new grass._
   - _The farmer turned his herd out as soon as the snow had melted from the hill pasture._
17. To bring someone, usually a woman, into prostitution by persuasion. *(slang)*
   - Simple: In slang, to get a person, usually a woman, to start selling sex.
   - _Prosecutors said he had turned out several women before his arrest._
   - _She told the court that her boyfriend tried to turn her out within a month of their meeting._

## Noun · turn-out

Pronunciation: say "TURN-owt" US /ˈtɝn ˌaʊt/, UK /ˈtɜːn ˌaʊt/

5. Another spelling of turnout. — Alternative form of turnout.
   - Simple: Another spelling of turnout. It often means how many people come to an event.
   - _Voter turn-out was the lowest the county had seen in decades._
   - _The farmer drove to church in his best turn-out, a polished gig behind two matched bays._

## Phrasal verb

16. To go out of doors or leave one's home. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To go out of your home.
   - _The doctor had to turn out at midnight to visit a sick child across the valley._
   - _I won't turn out in this rain just to buy a pint of milk._

## Other meanings

- (phrasal verb) In prison slang, to rape someone, or to coerce an otherwise heterosexual person into a homosexual role.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 6–17** — From Middle English turnen out or tornen out, equivalent to turn + out. The slang and prison senses meaning “to turn into a prostitute” probably come from a shortening of turn (inside) out.
**Meaning 5** — Formed from the phrasal verb turn out.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/turn-out (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).