turn out

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To turn out is to be revealed in the end. How things finally prove to be, once everything is known.

It usually takes that or an infinitive, so it may turn out that nobody was told. There are three other senses in constant use: turning out a light means switching it off, turning out a room means emptying it to clean, and turnout means the number of people who came. That last one matters in elections, where a low turnout is itself a result.

Definitions of turn out

1phraseturn outTo prove to be the case in the end.B2
“It may well turn out to be nothing at all.”
2phraseattendTo attend or come out for an event.B2
“A good crowd will turn out if the weather holds.”

Where it comes from

Middle English
turnen out
English, today
turn out

From Middle English turnen out, tornen out, equivalent to turn + out. The slang and prison terms meaning "to turn into a prostitute, etc." are probably an ellipsis for turn (inside) out (“to flip someone's character or role”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 3 of A Man Called Ove.

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