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Glite Dictionary
table-turning

table-turning

7.0
A sudden change that gives the other side the advantage
  • noun
  • Informal
translation icon : cambio decisivo
  • The table-turning moment in the negotiations came when one side presented new evidence.

Examples

  • The unexpected resignation of the CEO led to a table-turning shift in the company's direction.

  • After months of struggle, the team experienced a table-turning victory that changed their fate.

  • Literally a week or two after making that video tables turned like that.

Synonyms

turning point
vstable-turning
104 3.7

A moment when an important event changes what happens next

involves a decisive change that shifts advantage between parties
turn of events
vstable-turning
35 4.1

A sudden change in a situation that makes plans or results different

means a decisive change that specifically reverses who has advantage

Antonyms

status quo
151 4.6

The present situation in society, politics, or the economy

stagnation
1 6.5

Still water that does not move in pipes or lakes, causing poor quality

How Decisive

watershed
14 5.8
table-turning
  • Informal
7.0
change
∞ 1.1
shift
363 3.5

Surface Forms

table-turning singular
table-turnings plural

Morphology

table-turning = table + turn (semi-transparent) = table + ing

The form is clearly a compound of 'table' + 'turn(ing)', but the specific meaning 'reversal of advantage' depends on the idiom 'turn the tables' and is not a purely literal composition.

Etymology

Table-turning comes from the phrase turn the tables, which imagines physically turning a table or swapping sides to 'reverse' who is winning. So a table-turning is a sudden change that 'reverses' the advantage and gives the other side the lead.