about-turn
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See also: about turn
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From the imperative phrase used in the military.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
about-turn (plural about-turns)
- (British, military) A turn of 180 degrees, typically in a military formation[First attested in the mid 20th century.].[1]
- Total reversal of opinion or attitude[First attested in the mid 20th century.].[1]
- 2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph[1]:
- A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward.
Translations[edit]
turn of 180 degrees
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total reversal of opinion or attitude
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Verb[edit]
about-turn (third-person singular simple present about-turns, present participle about-turning, simple past and past participle about-turned)
- (intransitive) To turn 180 degrees, typically in a military formation.
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to turn 180 degrees
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See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “about-turn”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 7.