Phrasal Verb

Meaning

Example Sentence

touch at

To call briefly at a port.

Our ship touched at Cape Town for a few hours.

touch down

To come or bring down to the ground.

The big crowd cheered when the spacecraft touched down safely

touch in

To mark slightly with a brush, pencil, colour, etc.

His painting is almost finished; he’s touching in some small details to improve on it.

touch off

To cause something to explode.

The build-up of gas touched off a series of small explosions.

To cause an action or a process to begin.

The book touched off a storm of controversy.

touch on

To deal briefly with someone or something else when speaking or writing.

In his lecture on the subject, he touched on the writer.

touch up

To make minor improvements.

She touched up her face before meeting him.

try for

To make an attempt at achieving something.

They tried very hard for an equalizing goal in the second half.

try on

To put on an item of clothing to see if it fits or suits.

She tried it on, but it didn’t fit her.

try out

To undergo a competitive qualifying test.

They tried her out for the supporting role in the comedy film.

To test to see if you like it.

When you are at the seaside resort, don’t forget to try out the seafood dishes.

turn against

To disagree with or become hostile to someone or something.

His supporters turned against him when he defected to the opposition party.

turn around

To transform an unsuccessful business into a successful one.

A new general manager was appointed to turn around the ailing company.

turn away

To refuse entry to someone.

They turned a group of visitors away as it was closing time.

To force someone to go somewhere else.

The slow service of the restaurant turned away potential customers.

To move your face so that you are not looking at the same thing.

When I saw the blood at the accident scene, I turned away.

turn back

To go back in the direction, one has come from.

We had better turn back as the sea is getting too rough for sailing in a small boat.

turn down

To reject.

She turned down his proposal for the tenth time.

To lower the volume, heat, etc.

How many times do I have to tell you to turn down the radio?

turn in

To hand something over to someone.

Someone turned my lost passport in to the police.

To go to bed.

It’s rather late; it’s time we turned in.

To inform on.

A gang member turned the leader in to the police.

To make a return.

This is the first quarter that the new company is expected to turn in a profit.

To hand in.

He was forced to turn in his letter of resignation, failing which he would be sacked.

turn into

To change something into something else.

There was loud applause when the magician turned a carrot into a rabbit.

To transform a place.

The fishing village has been turned into a seaside resort.

turn off

To repel or make repelled.

His arrogance really turned her off.

To leave one road and enter another.

We turned off the highway and went down a bumpy road to reach our destination.

To stop something from operating.

When you turn off the tap, you do it clockwise.

turn on

To excite or become excited, especially sexually.

Girls with long hair really turn me on.

To cause something to begin operating.

It’s nearly dark already; why are you still not turning on your car light?

To attack someone.

Why turn on him when he has nothing to do with it?

turn out

To discover something previously unknown, or unexpectedly.

It turned out that the butler was the one who committed the murder.

To assemble as for a public event.

An estimated ten thousand people turned out for the fireworks display.

To be found out.

The burglar who stole the diamond turned out to be the police inspector.

To take part or to attend.

The district has the highest number of people in the country turning out to vote.

To produce something through a manufacturing process.

With the new machine, they are able to turn out 500 packets per hour.

To result in or have a particular outcome.

Initially, none of us believed his story which turned out to be true.

turn over

To transfer someone or something to someone else.

The abandoned baby was turned over to the welfare department.

To make an amount of money in a given period.

We think his new business is turning over at least a few thousand dollars a month.

To switch to another television station or channel.

If you are not watching, we are turning over to the other channel.

To think about something.

He couldn’t get to sleep as he kept turning the thought over in his mind.

turn to

To seek help from something.

She turned to drugs to get over her depression.

To look for a page in a book.

If you turn to page 123, you will find the next page missing.

To go to someone for advice.

She turned to counseling for her depression.

turn up

To appear suddenly or unexpectedly.

A woman who was reported missing a few weeks ago turned up at the press office.

To find something.

The police combed the entire area but turned up no clues to the murder.

To be present publicly; to arrive.

Less than half of the invited guests turned up for the event.

To occur unexpectedly.

He missed the appointment as something that required his urgent attention turned up.

To increase the level of something such as heat, sound, light, etc.

Don’t turn up the volume on the television; I want to take a nap.