About-turn

/əˈbaʊt tɚn/ · noun

Meaning

(British, military) A turn of 180 degrees, typically in a military formation ..

Definitions by Sense

1. (British, military) A turn of 180 degrees, typically in a military formation .
2. Total reversal of opinion or attitude .
3. (intransitive) To turn 180 degrees, typically in a military formation.

Example Sentences

A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward.

When Francis visited Chile in 2018, he dismissed the protesters and accused them of “calumny” in the full gaze of the world’s press. It caused the head of the Vatican’s own sex abuse commission to rebuke his boss publicly. Back in Rome, Francis responded by dispatching an envoy to look into the case. When his report came back siding with the protesters, Francis did a swift about-turn and described what he said on his visit to Chile as “the lowest moment” of his papacy.

Synonyms for about-turn

Antonyms for about-turn

Related Words

Word Forms

• about-turns
• about turn
• about-turning
• about-turned

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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