See turn a phrase in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for turn a phrase meaning in English (3.2kB)
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "turns a phrase",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "turning a phrase",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "turned a phrase",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "turned a phrase",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*"
},
"expansion": "turn a phrase (third-person singular simple present turns a phrase, present participle turning a phrase, simple past and past participle turned a phrase)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English light verb constructions",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English predicates",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1861, Charles Reade, chapter 61, in The Cloister and the Hearth",
"text": "Gerard coloured all over at the compliment; but not knowing how to turn a phrase equal to the occasion, asked her if he should resume her picture.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1887, Francis Marion Crawford, chapter 8, in Paul Patoff",
"text": "\"Ah, how gracefully these wild northern men can turn a phrase!\" whispered Chrysophrasia.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1906, Edith Nesbit, chapter 3, in The Incomplete Amorist",
"text": "Everyone who was anyone at Long Barton spoke in careful and correct English, but no one ever troubled to turn a phrase.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2004, Elisabeth Egan, \"A world of talking cats and lost, lonely boys\" (review of Moe's Villa and Other Stories by James Purdy), San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Dec. (retrieved 4 June 2008)",
"text": "Nobody, however, can take issue with Purdy's ability to turn a phrase. He has that rare Joycean knack for illuminating an entire universe with one simple detail."
}
],
"glosses": [
"To create a particular linguistic expression which is strikingly clear, appropriate, and memorable."
],
"id": "en-turn_a_phrase-en-verb-r4NaJeZ9",
"links": [
[
"particular",
"particular"
],
[
"linguistic",
"linguistic"
],
[
"expression",
"expression"
],
[
"strikingly",
"strikingly"
],
[
"clear",
"clear"
],
[
"appropriate",
"appropriate"
],
[
"memorable",
"memorable"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To create a particular linguistic expression which is strikingly clear, appropriate, and memorable."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "turn of phrase"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-turn a phrase.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/25/En-au-turn_a_phrase.ogg/En-au-turn_a_phrase.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/En-au-turn_a_phrase.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "turn a phrase"
}
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "turns a phrase",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "turning a phrase",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "turned a phrase",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "turned a phrase",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*"
},
"expansion": "turn a phrase (third-person singular simple present turns a phrase, present participle turning a phrase, simple past and past participle turned a phrase)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "turn of phrase"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English light verb constructions",
"English multiword terms",
"English predicates",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English terms with quotations",
"English verbs",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1861, Charles Reade, chapter 61, in The Cloister and the Hearth",
"text": "Gerard coloured all over at the compliment; but not knowing how to turn a phrase equal to the occasion, asked her if he should resume her picture.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1887, Francis Marion Crawford, chapter 8, in Paul Patoff",
"text": "\"Ah, how gracefully these wild northern men can turn a phrase!\" whispered Chrysophrasia.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1906, Edith Nesbit, chapter 3, in The Incomplete Amorist",
"text": "Everyone who was anyone at Long Barton spoke in careful and correct English, but no one ever troubled to turn a phrase.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2004, Elisabeth Egan, \"A world of talking cats and lost, lonely boys\" (review of Moe's Villa and Other Stories by James Purdy), San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Dec. (retrieved 4 June 2008)",
"text": "Nobody, however, can take issue with Purdy's ability to turn a phrase. He has that rare Joycean knack for illuminating an entire universe with one simple detail."
}
],
"glosses": [
"To create a particular linguistic expression which is strikingly clear, appropriate, and memorable."
],
"links": [
[
"particular",
"particular"
],
[
"linguistic",
"linguistic"
],
[
"expression",
"expression"
],
[
"strikingly",
"strikingly"
],
[
"clear",
"clear"
],
[
"appropriate",
"appropriate"
],
[
"memorable",
"memorable"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To create a particular linguistic expression which is strikingly clear, appropriate, and memorable."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-turn a phrase.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/25/En-au-turn_a_phrase.ogg/En-au-turn_a_phrase.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/En-au-turn_a_phrase.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "turn a phrase"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.