turns

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular present of turn.

   He turns the page slowly, savoring each line.

   Whenever the wind shifts, the weather vane turns to face it.

   Note

   One spelling does double duty: a singular subject takes this verb form, while the plural noun counts turns made or taken. As a verb it works with or without an object (the wheel turns, she turns the key). In a woodworker's shop it means shaping on a lathe: he turns a bowl from maple. A determiner such as her or many signals the noun instead.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of turn.

   Players take turns rolling the dice around the board.

   The mountain path has so many turns that drivers slow to a crawl.

   Note

   Counted rotations and counted chances both take this plural. A screw may need three turns to seat, and children at a swing take turns. In the sharing sense the plural settles into take turns, where each person has a go in sequence. In the angle sense it works as a measurement, the way degrees do. For the identical spelling as a verb, see the present-tense verb.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2