| / English Dictionary |
TURN BACK
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Turn inside out or upside down
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "turn back" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 2
Meaning:
Go back to a previous state
Example:
We reverted to the old rules
Synonyms:
regress; retrovert; return; revert; turn back
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "turn back" is one way to...):
change by reversal; reverse; turn (change to the contrary)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "turn back"):
fall back; lapse; recidivate; regress; relapse; retrogress (go back to bad behavior)
resile (return to the original position or state after being stretched or compressed)
go back; recover; recuperate (regain a former condition after a financial loss)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP
Sense 3
Meaning:
Hold back, as of a danger or an enemy; check the expansion or influence of
Example:
Turn back the tide of communism
Synonyms:
arrest; check; contain; hold back; stop; turn back
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Hypernyms (to "turn back" is one way to...):
defend (be on the defensive; act against an attack)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "turn back"):
cut down; cut out (intercept (a player))
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings
Example:
The supermarket had to turn back many disappointed customers
Synonyms:
chase away; dispel; drive away; drive off; drive out; run off; turn back
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "turn back" is one way to...):
displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)
Verb group:
drive out; force out; rouse; rout out (force or drive out)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "turn back"):
fire (drive out or away by or as if by fire)
clear the air (dispel differences or negative emotions)
banish (drive away)
shoo; shoo away; shoo off (drive away by crying 'shoo!')
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sense 5
Meaning:
Retrace one's course
Example:
The hikers got into a storm and had to turn back
Synonyms:
backtrack; double back; turn back
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "turn back" is one way to...):
return (go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Context examples:
It seemed like wilful ill-nature, or a voluntary penance, for on these occasions it was not merely a few formal inquiries and an awkward pause and then away, but he actually thought it necessary to turn back and walk with her.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
He promised me the sight of a capital gun he is just going to send off; said he would keep it unpacked to the last possible moment, that I might see it; and if I do not turn back now, I have no chance.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
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