turn out

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

1. copulativeidiomaticintransitiveTo end up; to result.

   I couldn't have assisted anyway, as it turned out.

   5 more examples

   I had hoped our first meeting would turn out better.

   The truth turned out to be more depressing than we thought.

   He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2

   I should like this to be the result, gentlemen, assuming it be for your advantage and my own; and I should like to be successful in my defence; but I think that it will be difficult, and I am quite aware of the nature of my task. However, let that turn out as God wills; I must obey the law and make my defence.

   1954, Plato, translated by Hugh Tredennick, “Socrates on Trial: The Apology”, in The Last Days of Socrates (Penguin Classics), Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, →OCLC, page 21

   The thing we’ll all remember is Arya Stark, Supreme Badass Of The Seven Kingdoms. Not Jon Snow, not Daenerys, but the pint-size warrior who spends the first part of the fight just annihilating White Walkers one after the other, then turns out to be the one who deals the killing blow to the Night King.

   2019 April 28, Alex McLevy, “Game Of Thrones Suffers the Fog of War in the Battle against the Dead (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 31 May 2021

2. intransitiveby ellipsisTo succeed; work out; turn out well.

   I'm afraid the cake didn't turn out.

   1 more example

   Starting a new story, I hope it turns out.

   1965 February 13, Lou Sullivan, Diary

3. idiomaticintransitiveTo attend; show up.

   Hundreds of people turned out to see the parade.

   1 more example

   The train is usually crowded and half the township of Forres seems to turn out to watch it go off.

   1944 January and February, W. McGowan Gradon, “Forres as a Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 23

4. datedintransitiveTo go out; to leave one's home.

   1 more example

   But then one of Mr. Knott's men would have had to put on his coat and hat and turn out, as likely as not in the pitch dark, and in torrents of rain in all probability, and grope his way in the dark in the pours of rain, with the pot of food in his hand, a wretched and ridiculous figure, to where the dog lay.

   1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC

5. idiomatictransitiveTo extinguish a light or other device.

   Turn out the lights before you leave.

   2 more examples

   The day grew strong, and showed itself outside, even against the flaming lights within. The lights were turned out, and the work went on.

   1854, Dickens, chapter 11, in Hard Times

   It's one of those books you have to go on reading long after you know you should turn out the light unless you want to feel like hell the next morning.

   1984 December 29, Judith Barrington, “Dyke Detectives Solve Murder Mysteries”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 25, page 7

   Synonyms: turn off, switch out, switch off

6. idiomaticintransitiveTo become apparent or known, especially (as) it turns out

   It turns out that he just made a lucky guess.

   3 more examples

   As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   The Ivorian is a player with such a liking for improvisation it does not usually look like he has any more idea than anyone else what he is going to do next, so it was an interesting choice. As it turned out, it was a masterstroke. The striker was full of running, played with a more direct shoot-on-sight approach than normal and finished with two goals and an assist.

   2012 September 15, Amy Lawrence, “Arsenal's Gervinho enjoys the joy of six against lowly Southampton”, in the Guardian

   It turns out, there’s research that backs up the usefulness of lowering our expectations. Participants in one study had to make decisions that either led to financial gains or losses, all while inside a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. Researchers then duplicated this experiment as an app to crowdsource more data.

   2024 May 14, Clay Drinko, “Lower Your Expectations”, in Psychology Today

7. idiomatictransitiveTo produce; make.

   The bakery turns out three hundred pies each day.

   1 more example

   This new locomotive was turned out of Doncaster works in May, 1934, to a mighty fanfare of trumpets.

   1942 February, O. S. Nock, “The Locomotives of Sir Nigel Gresley: Part VII”, in Railway Magazine, page 44

8. intransitiveTo leave a road.

   Turn out at the third driveway.

9. transitiveTo remove from a mould, bowl etc.

   Turn out the dough onto a board and shape it.

   1 more example

   He had found the pocket, and was turning out the contents.

   1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle

10. transitiveTo empty for inspection.

    Please turn out your pockets.

    1 more example

    The security guard asked everyone to turn out their bags.

11. idiomatictransitiveTo refuse service or shelter; to eject or evict.

    The hotel staff hastened to turn out the noisy drunk.

    5 more examples

    The poor family were turned out of their lodgings at only an hour's notice.

    The whole lot of grafters was later turned out of office.

    A fine life I should have if I left this country at my age and spent the rest of my days trying one city after another and being turned out every time!

    1954, Plato, translated by Hugh Tredennick, “Socrates on Trial: The Apology”, in The Last Days of Socrates (Penguin Classics), Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, →OCLC, page 45

    There the North British, having apparently decided that we had sufficiently wallowed in luxury, turned us out and loaded us into ancient four-wheelers, which were then attached to the rear of the night express (8.15 from Kings Cross).

    1957 July 28, M. D. Greville, “A Diamond Jubilee of Railway Memories”, in Railway Magazine, page 459

    And so the teacher turned it out But still it lingered near, And waited patiently about Till Mary did appear.

    1998, Jonathan Langley, Collins Bedtime Treasury of Nursery Rhymes and Tales, Mary Had a Little Lamb, page 39

12. slangtransitivelifestyleTo convince a person (usually a woman) to become a prostitute; to pimp or manage a prostitute.

    He then turned her out onto the streets of Chicago with a quota to meet: $500 for a night's work.

    2008, Carolyn Maloney, Rumors of Our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

    2 more examples

    Like I told you, I'm still turning this one bitch out. […] Sunday is three days away, if you ain't turned her out by then she ain't worth it.

    2008, Joseph B. Haggerty, Sr., Shame: The Story of a Pimp, page 361

    The nigga that turned her out was named Derek “Sweets” D. I despised that pimping motherfucker with passion.

    2012, Eyes . . . JB, If I Should Die Tonight: The Untold Stories, page 18

    Synonyms: harlotize, whore out, dog out, hustle, mack, pander, pimp, pimp out

13. slangtransitivelifestyleTo rape; to coerce an otherwise heterosexual individual into performing a homosexual role.

    Synonyms: abuse, Shawshank, violate, abuse, constuprate, defile, defoul, dishonour

14. transitiveTo put (cattle) out to pasture.
15. transitiveTo convince to vote

    turn out potential voters

16. intransitiveTo leave one's work to take part in a strike.
17. colloquialintransitiveTo get out of bed; get up.