[verb uhp-turn, uhp-turn; noun uhp-turn]
- to turn up or upward: Her eyes upturned to see his face.
- chaos or extreme disorder, as in society; an upheaval.
- an upward turn, or a changing and rising movement, as in prices or business.
Origin of upturn
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for upturn
If your 11-year-old mocks you by making a cawing voice, upturn his dinner plate and mock his mocking voice.It’s Not Just the Vaccines. Jenny McCarthy’s New Book Offers More ‘Lessons’
April 28, 2014
But those most dramatically affected by the “amazing” upturn are people who write comic novels and blog for The Daily Beast.Click Here For Good News!
March 8, 2009
But after a' the Kirk was oor ain mither, and what for should the King misca' or upturn her?The Men of the Moss-Hags
S. R. Crockett
The jackal will crouch in your palaces, and the ploughshare will upturn your tombs.Salammbo
Is it consolidation to resist the force that is threatening to upturn our government?The Works of Daniel Webster, Volume 1
At length the people rose in wrath and began to upturn the government and try to set up a new state of things.The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 1 (of 10)
James Edward Parrott
I expect young McClellan to deal blows, and thus to upturn the Micawber policy.Diary from March 4, 1861, to November 12, 1862
- to turn or cause to turn up, over, or upside down
- (tr) to create disorder
- (tr) to direct upwards
- an upward turn, trend, or improvement
- an upheaval or commotion
Word Origin and History for upturn
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper