turn up
Formsturns up, turning up, turned up
Formsturns up, turning up, turned up
- 1
- 2To arrive, or to appear suddenly when no one expected it.
Lots of people turned up at the party without being invited.
Don't just turn up at the doctor's office without calling first.
Similarappear, arrive, surface, materialize
Note
- 3
- 4To fold, flip, or turn something so it points up.
Turn up your collar, it's cold out there.
She turned the cards up one by one.
Similarraise
- 5To party in a wild way, often with drinking or drugs.
It's Friday night, and we are ready to turn up!
They turned up all night after the big win.
Similarparty
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- 6The part at the bottom of a pant leg that is folded up to make it shorter.
There was a small hole in the turn-up of his left pant leg.
Dad found coins in the turn-ups of his old pants.
Similarcuff
Note
- 7A lucky surprise, or something that happens when you did not expect it.
Finding twenty dollars in my old coat was a nice turn-up.
The team that was supposed to lose won the cup, which was a real turn-up.
Similarsurprise
Note
- 8The next card taken off the top of the deck and shown to everyone.
The dealer flipped the turn-up, and it was a seven.
We all hoped the turn-up would be a heart.
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- 9
- 10A children's book with flaps you lift to see pictures or words underneath.
The little girl lifted each flap of her turn-up to find the hidden pictures.
Books with flaps which lifted up and down and known as "turn-ups" came about in 1795 and were listed in Laurie and Whittle's catalogue.
1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their BackgroundHere, turn-ups means children's books with flaps you lift to see underneath.Note
Less common meanings
- 11
- 12To decide in court that someone is not guilty and let them go free.
The jury turned him up, so he went home that night.
Thirty-six were cast for death, and only one was ‘topped’ (hanged), the very one that expected to be ‘turned up’ (acquitted) for highway robbery.
1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London PoorHere, turned up means found not guilty and let go free.Note
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Practice
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Origin
From the verb turn up.