about turn
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A turn of 180 degrees, usually in a military formation.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhbowtturnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈbaʊtˈtɝn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A turn of 180 degrees, typically in a military formation.
Act of pivoting 180 degrees, especially in a military formation
verb
To turn 180 degrees, typically in a military formation.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A turn of 180 degrees, typically in a military formation.
Used this way, about turn is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a military use: it belongs to service and operational language.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Military
- Historical writing
- News/reporting
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “about turn” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.