turn to

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

1. With to as particle
2. With to as particle:
   1. intransitiveTo apply oneself; to focus; to get one's head down.

      All hands, turn to!

      1 more example

      "No; because when I come in from the forge of a night, any one can see me turning to at it. But you never turn to at it, Biddy."

      1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XVII, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 269

3. With to as preposition:
   1. intransitiveTo become.

      all things turn to dust

      2 more examples

      Near-synonyms: (intransitive) get, turn, go, come, fall, grow, wax; (reflexive) make [oneself], make [oneself] into

      Iron turns to rust in the presence of air and water.

      Synonyms: turn into, convert, change, transform, get, turn, go, come

   2. transitiveTo cause (something or someone) to become.

      He turned water to wine.

      2 more examples

      Near-synonyms: (transitive) make, make into

      The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

      2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55

      Synonyms: turn into, convert, change, transform, make, make into

   3. To consult for advice or help.

      When I'm in trouble, I turn to my pastor to help me.

      Synonyms: run to, look to

   4. To start to do or to use something in an attempt to deal with a difficult and unpleasant situation.

      Breakups can be incredibly difficult, but one may wish to seek therapy rather than turn to drugs.

   5. To direct one's attention or efforts toward something.

      In 1939 he turned to films in earnest.

      1 more example

      How do we find constructive ways to respond to a situation this complex? Two groups of essays in the anthology turn to this question.

      1987 February 22, N. Diffloth, “Violence, by Women, against Women”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 31, page 8

   6. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see turn, to.

      Turn to the left up here.

      1 more example

      To start my homework, I had to turn to page twenty in my textbook.