to turn to look
- phrasal verb
- "Oh, yes!" she said, and turned to look at the tree.
Examples
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You know when the music starts and the bride makes her big entrance and everybody turns to look at her?
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We were cooking dinner and we turned to look at her and her eyes were swollen.
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If everyone turns to look at something, you turn and you look at the same thing.
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One by one, the old women turned around to look at him.
Fiction book (1990) -
Then, as if with a common thought, they all turned to look at Lily.
Fiction book (1990) -
The cab driver, now terrified, turned around to look at the young woman, but no one was there.
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Her face was bright red, and her blue eyes glittered when she turned to look up at me.
Fiction book (1991) -
When they turned to look in the backseat, the little girl had vanished.
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"Momma?" Finally, she stopped sobbing and turned to look up at us.
Fiction book (1990) -
As the loud noise echoed through the room, everyone turned to look toward the door to see what happened.
Synonyms
To point toward something or someone
To move your body to face the opposite direction or change your attitude
Move your body so you face the opposite direction
To turn quickly to face another direction or change your opinion suddenly
Antonyms
How Far
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'turn' (rotate/change direction) + 'to' (directional/infinitival link) + 'look' (direct one's eyes). This motion + gaze composition is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer 'turn to look' means change direction in order to look.
Etymology
Turn to look comes from the simple image of someone turning their body or head to face something that got their attention. The parts turn (move your body) and look (see) explain why it means 'change direction to look at someone or something'.