English

Alternative forms

• about face (US)

Noun

about turn ‎(plural about turns)

1. (Britain, military) Of a formation of soldiers, to reverse the direction in which they are facing; an about face. [First attested in the mid 20^th century.]^[1]
2. (Britain, figuratively, idiomatic) A complete change of opinion, direction, etc. [First attested in the mid 20^th century.]^[1]

Translations

Verb

about turn ‎(third-person singular simple present about turns, present participle about turning, simple past and past participle about turned)

1. (intransitive, military) To turn to face the opposite direction. [First attested in the mid 20^th century.]^[1]

Translations

See also

• 180

References

1. 1 2 3 Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 7

Anagrams

• turnabout, turn about, turn-about