turn on

present singular third person turns on · participle present turning on · participle past turned on · past turned on

1. transitiveTo set a flow of fluid or gas running by rotating a tap or valve.First known use 19th c.

   Turn on the tap/faucet.

   Antonyms: turn off

2. transitiveTo power up, to put into operation, to start, to activate (an appliance, light, mechanism, functionality etc.).

   Please turn on automatic updates.

   4 more examples

   Please turn the lights on so I can see what I'm reading.

   He'll turn on the charm if he thinks he's losing the sale.

   Hello, IT. Have you tried turning it off and turning it on again? Ok. Well, are you sure that it's plugged in?

   2006 February 17, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, season 1, episode 4

   Robins, of Torquay, had denied a single charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. She claimed the microwave was accidentally turned on by one of the cats after the kitten got inside. But Knutton said the kitten was too small to even get onto the work surface.

   2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in The Guardian

3. intransitiveTo start operating; to power up, to become on.First known use 19th c.

   My computer won't turn on.

   Synonyms: turn against

4. transitiveTo introduce (someone to something), and especially to fill them with enthusiasm (about it); to intoxicate, give pleasure to ( + to an object of interest or excitement).First known use 20th c.

   Attractive showroom models can turn buyers on.

   2 more examples

   Attractive packaging can turn buyers on to a product.

   Hearing that song turned me on to jazz fusion.

5. transitiveTo sexually arouse.First known use 20th c.

   John's a maid fetishist. Maid outfits really turn him on.

   3 more examples

   You don't have to be beautiful to turn me on / I just need your body, baby, from dusk 'til dawn

   1986, Prince, “Kiss”, in Parade, performed by Prince and the Revolution

   You really turn me on / You knock me off of my feet / My lonely days are gone

   1987, “The Way You Make Me Feel”, in Bad, performed by Michael Jackson

   You make me feel like I'm livin' a teenage dream / The way you turn me on, I can't sleep

   2010, “Teenage Dream”, performed by Katy Perry

6. intransitiveslangTo take drugs.

   "Well, they seem to always have dope up there, and I like to turn on, too." "You do?" "Sure. Cops is just people. I don't drink, so I gotta do something to get my kicks."

   1971, Chuck Barnes, Revenge, Timely Books

7. slangtransitiveTo cause to take up drugs, especially hallucinogens.

   In fact, many youngsters will not even turn on a close friend if they know he has never used drugs. And it is rare indeed for a youth to actively seek out people to turn on.

   1976, Robert H. Coombs, Lincoln J. Fry, Patricia G. Lewis, Socialization in drug abuse

8. transitiveTo aim at.

   He turned the searchlight on the passing planes.

   1 more example

   Cornered by the authorities, the shooter turned the gun on himself.

9. transitiveTo rebel against; to suddenly attack.First known use 19th c.

   Suddenly all his friends turned on him.

   3 more examples

   She was Nicolas Sarkozy's pin-up for diversity, the first Muslim woman with north African parents to hold a major French government post. But Rachida Dati has now turned on her own party elite with such ferocity that some have suggested she should be expelled from the president's ruling party.

   2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in Guardian

   Milk Tea Alliance: are young Thais turning on China over Hong Kong?

   2020 June 14, Jitsiree Thongnoi, “Milk Tea Alliance: are young Thais turning on China over Hong Kong?”, in South China Morning Post, retrieved 16 Jun 2020

   The year before, Ariana Grande's fandom, the Arianators, turned on a journalist who had called the star “a spoiled white girl”.

   2025 October 25, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, “Call yourself a fan?”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1

10. ditransitiveTo cause (someone) to rebel against or suddenly attack (someone else).

    We need to be thinking about what it means the way they are locking us up, and turning us on each other. We need to start fighting for our rights together.

    1984 August 18, X-Con, “Women In Cages”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 6, page 7

11. intransitiveTo depend upon; to pivot around, to have as a central subject.First known use 17th c.

    The argument turned on the question of whether or not jobs would be lost.

12. transitiveTo lower, blocking the way and signalling that a train may not proceed.

    Antonyms: turn off