turn to

phraseC12 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To turn to somebody is to go to them for help when you are in trouble. There is nobody else, and there they are.

It is one of the warmest phrases in English, and having nobody to turn to is one of the bleakest. It also works with things rather than people, since turning to drink is a well-worn phrase for a bad answer to a problem. There is a plain sense of changing to a page, and a sense of becoming, since milk turns to cheese and rain turns to snow.

Definitions of turn to

1phraseturn toTo go to somebody or something for help.C1
“He had nobody to turn to at that point.”
2phrasechangeTo change into something else.B2
“The rain may turn to sleet by evening.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 3 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

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turn to

phraseC12 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To turn to somebody is to go to them for help when you are in trouble. There is nobody else, and there they are.

Definitions of turn to

1phraseturn toTo go to somebody or something for help.C1
“He had nobody to turn to at that point.”
2phrasechangeTo change into something else.B2
“The rain may turn to sleet by evening.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 3 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word