to turn away
94
2.3
- phrasal verb
- /tɜrn əˈweɪ/
:
dar la espalda (a)
- Then her anger dissolved in an agony of distress, and she turned away from him.
- then turns away
And she had the screen turned away from me.
- And she had the screen turned away from me.
- She can see what's on his mind, and then he turns away.
- I like usually she I think she just says she freezes and kind of like turns away.
- According to Plutarch and Cassius Dio, when Caesar was first presented with Pompey's head, he turned away disgusted.
- And then they have the mother turn away face away from the toddler, turn her back to it and turn around and stone face Stonewall the toddler.
- So the first time that the Elephant Man is seen on screen, we like cover our faces and turn away in horror at his hideousness.
- And it's a big enough bed that I can turn away from the crumbs.
Examples
-
"Take care..." And then he turned away from them and disappeared into the cavernous building.
Fiction book (1990) -
But the more she turned away from people, the more scared they were of her.
-
So go ahead and turn away and make your choice.
-
Of course, some will turn away, but the crime still remains.
-
Some people turn away, others watch and learn.
-
Why do you turn away?
-
We stop and stare, or turn away from them, or both.
Academic text (2008) -
She turned away from everyone and became sad and lonely, and had no one to turn to!
-
Miss Brooks smiled and turned away from me to face the stage and listen.
Academic text (2012) -
When she felt uncomfortable, she chose to turn away from the conversation.
Synonyms
384
2.0
To move your body to face the opposite direction or change your attitude
125
2.2
Turn your eyes away from a person or thing that makes you uncomfortable
25
5.0
To turn your eyes or face away to avoid something unpleasant
1
1.4
Move your body so you face the opposite direction
1
6.1
To turn quickly to face the other way
1
4.8
To turn quickly to face another direction or change your opinion suddenly
Antonyms
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to move your body, head, or direction so you are not facing someone or something' is directly derivable from 'turn' (to rotate or change direction) combined with 'away' (in the opposite direction). This motion verb + particle construction follows a straightforward spatial composition that is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrasal verb turn away describes the simple action of moving your body or head so you no longer face something, literally turn your face away. That's why it means 'to stop looking at someone or something'.