to turn on
20
4.1
- phrasal verb
- /tɜrn ɑn/
:
depender de
- The decision will turn on the evidence presented during the trial.
- turn on the question
- the case turns on
- turn on the issue
And we can do that by checking when does it turn on, what kind of input was present.
- And we can do that by checking when does it turn on, what kind of input was present.
Examples
-
Look, just so you know it, these cases usually turn on some small detail.
-
But in the last analysis, the prosecution's case turns on two points.
-
Because what this all turns on is something else, our own free will.
-
What will the country say if the case turns on my vote?
-
Popular debate turned on who had the authority to decide rather than on what was decided.
Academic text (2005) -
But a fair reading of this subject does not turn on translation alone.
Academic text (1994) -
The costs of alliance will turn on similar factors as they affect the ally.
Academic text (1990) -
Whether curriculum integration is a good idea or not turns on one overwhelmingly important practical question.
Academic text (2002) -
A number of the thorniest public debates of recent years have turned on fundamental assumptions about the nature of meaning.
Academic text (1998) -
The whole thing turns on two psychological points: the Baron's compulsive gambling and the Amin Pasha's fascination for red headed women.
Synonyms
819
1.7
Be affected or decided by something
244
5.3
To depend on something for the result
67
2.3
To be decided by something such as the weather
37
4.2
Need one thing to happen for another thing to be true
12
4.3
To depend on something for a result
2
5.5
To depend completely on something for the result
How Dependent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to depend on' is not directly derivable from the literal senses 'turn' (to change) and 'on' (active/powered), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely not predict this sense. There is a loose, somewhat metaphorical link (turn + on/upon → be determined by), but the particle usage is idiomatic and less frequent, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
Turn on in the sense of 'depend on' may come from the image of a result changing because of one small thing, like a door that only opens when you turn a key; the whole outcome 'turns on' that one point. That's why it means 'to depend on' or be decided by something.