"turn the tables" meaning in English

See turn the tables in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-turn the tables.ogg [Australia] Forms: turn tables [canonical], turns the tables [present, singular, third-person], turning the tables [participle, present], turned the tables [participle, past], turned the tables [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*|head=turn (the) tables}} turn (the) tables (third-person singular simple present turns the tables, present participle turning the tables, simple past and past participle turned the tables)
  1. (idiomatic) To reverse a situation, so that the advantage has shifted to the party which was previously disadvantaged. Tags: idiomatic Related terms: table-turning, turntables, turn the table, the shoe is on the other foot, turn the tide Translations: 扭轉局勢 (Chinese Mandarin), 扭转局势 (niǔzhuǎn júshì) (Chinese Mandarin), 反敗為勝 (Chinese Mandarin), 反败为胜 (fǎnbàiwéishèng) (Chinese Mandarin), 反超 (fǎnchāo) (Chinese Mandarin), de kansen keren (Dutch), kääntää tilanne päälaelleen (Finnish), keikauttaa tilanne päälaelleen (Finnish), la roue tourne (French), les mouches ont changé d’âne (French), den Spieß umdrehen (German), das Blatt wenden (German), die Rollen tauschen (German), fordul a kocka (Hungarian), felülkerekedik (Hungarian), snúa á (Icelandic), snúa við taflinu (Icelandic), snúa vörn í sókn (Icelandic), komið annað hljóð í strokkinn (english: the shoe is on the other foot) (Icelandic), cambiare le carte in tavola (Italian), 形勢逆転 (Japanese), odwracać sytuację [imperfective] (Polish), odwrócić sytuację [perfective] (Polish), virar o jogo (Portuguese), cambiar las tornas (Spanish), dar la vuelta a la tortilla (Spanish), lật ngược thế cờ (Vietnamese)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for turn the tables meaning in English (5.7kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "turn tables",
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      "name": "en-verb"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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        {
          "ref": "1884, Horatio Alger, chapter 30, in Do and Dare",
          "text": "\"The tables are turned, my red friend!\" said the hunter, coolly. \"It's your life, not mine, this time!\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 December 21, Helen Pidd, “Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis”, in the Guardian",
          "text": "Since its conception, the European Union has been a haven for those seeking refuge from war, persecution and poverty in other parts of the world. But as the EU faces what Angela Merkel has called its toughest hour since the second world war, the tables appear to be turning.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 August 27, Brandon Nowalk, “Game Of Thrones slows down for the longest, and best, episode of the season (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club",
          "text": "The execution of Littlefinger is formal, although his trial admittedly gives us ample opportunity to appreciate the tables finally turning on the man who got the ball rolling on all this bloodshed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To reverse a situation, so that the advantage has shifted to the party which was previously disadvantaged."
      ],
      "id": "en-turn_the_tables-en-verb-~voUTM2Y",
      "links": [
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          "reverse",
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        [
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        [
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        ],
        [
          "shift",
          "shift"
        ],
        [
          "disadvantage",
          "disadvantage"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To reverse a situation, so that the advantage has shifted to the party which was previously disadvantaged."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "table-turning"
        },
        {
          "word": "turntables"
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          "word": "turn the table"
        },
        {
          "word": "the shoe is on the other foot"
        },
        {
          "word": "turn the tide"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "word": "扭轉局勢"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "niǔzhuǎn júshì",
          "word": "扭转局势"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "word": "反敗為勝"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "fǎnbàiwéishèng",
          "word": "反败为胜"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "fǎnchāo",
          "word": "反超"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "word": "de kansen keren"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "word": "kääntää tilanne päälaelleen"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "word": "keikauttaa tilanne päälaelleen"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "word": "la roue tourne"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "word": "les mouches ont changé d’âne"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "word": "den Spieß umdrehen"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "word": "das Blatt wenden"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "word": "die Rollen tauschen"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "word": "fordul a kocka"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "word": "felülkerekedik"
        },
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          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "word": "snúa á"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "word": "snúa við taflinu"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "word": "snúa vörn í sókn"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "english": "the shoe is on the other foot",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "word": "komið annað hljóð í strokkinn"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "word": "cambiare le carte in tavola"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "word": "形勢逆転"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "odwracać sytuację"
        },
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          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "odwrócić sytuację"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "word": "virar o jogo"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "word": "cambiar las tornas"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "word": "dar la vuelta a la tortilla"
        },
        {
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "word": "lật ngược thế cờ"
        }
      ]
    }
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      "audio": "En-au-turn the tables.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/26/En-au-turn_the_tables.ogg/En-au-turn_the_tables.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/En-au-turn_the_tables.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  "word": "turn the tables"
}
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      "form": "turned the tables",
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        "head": "turn (the) tables"
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      "name": "en-verb"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "table-turning"
    },
    {
      "word": "turntables"
    },
    {
      "word": "turn the table"
    },
    {
      "word": "the shoe is on the other foot"
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      "word": "turn the tide"
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          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 December 21, Helen Pidd, “Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis”, in the Guardian",
          "text": "Since its conception, the European Union has been a haven for those seeking refuge from war, persecution and poverty in other parts of the world. But as the EU faces what Angela Merkel has called its toughest hour since the second world war, the tables appear to be turning.",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "text": "The execution of Littlefinger is formal, although his trial admittedly gives us ample opportunity to appreciate the tables finally turning on the man who got the ball rolling on all this bloodshed.",
          "type": "quotation"
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        "To reverse a situation, so that the advantage has shifted to the party which was previously disadvantaged."
      ],
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          "shift",
          "shift"
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          "disadvantage"
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        "(idiomatic) To reverse a situation, so that the advantage has shifted to the party which was previously disadvantaged."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
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    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "word": "扭轉局勢"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "niǔzhuǎn júshì",
      "word": "扭转局势"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "word": "反敗為勝"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "fǎnbàiwéishèng",
      "word": "反败为胜"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "fǎnchāo",
      "word": "反超"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "word": "de kansen keren"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "word": "kääntää tilanne päälaelleen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "word": "keikauttaa tilanne päälaelleen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "word": "la roue tourne"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "word": "les mouches ont changé d’âne"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "word": "den Spieß umdrehen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "word": "das Blatt wenden"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "word": "die Rollen tauschen"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "word": "fordul a kocka"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "word": "felülkerekedik"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "word": "snúa á"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "word": "snúa við taflinu"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "word": "snúa vörn í sókn"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "english": "the shoe is on the other foot",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "word": "komið annað hljóð í strokkinn"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "word": "cambiare le carte in tavola"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "word": "形勢逆転"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "odwracać sytuację"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "odwrócić sytuację"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "word": "virar o jogo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "word": "cambiar las tornas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "word": "dar la vuelta a la tortilla"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "word": "lật ngược thế cờ"
    }
  ],
  "word": "turn the tables"
}
{
  "called_from": "form_descriptions/1698",
  "msg": "unrecognized head form: the",
  "path": [
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  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "verb",
  "title": "turn the tables",
  "trace": ""
}

{
  "called_from": "page/2517",
  "msg": "UNIMPLEMENTED parse_translation_template: trans-top-see {1: 'to reverse a situation so that the advantage has shifted', 2: 'the biter bit', 3: 'beat someone at their own game'}",
  "path": [
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  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "verb",
  "title": "turn the tables",
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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.