give a turn

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“I wish I could recollect whom he resembles, really,” said Ernest Wilton, to give a turn to the conversation, which had got into such an unpleasant hitch.

From Picked up at Sea The Gold Miners of Minturne Creek by Hutcheson, John C. (John Conroy)

Mrs. Willoughby said nothing, except once or twice when she endeavored to give a turn to the conversation, in which she was signally unsuccessful.

From The American Baron by De Mille, James

You can't go and give a turn to none of the neighbors never, can't you?

From A Budget of Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens and Others by Schayer, Julia Thompson von Stosch

He heard enough to give a turn to his thoughts; and it was with unaffected sorrow that he reflected how the lonely woman had been dependent upon the charity, as it seemed, of others.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 87, January, 1865 by Various

If I forget all about it, and give a turn suddenly, I regularly yell; for it feels as if a red-hot iron had been stuck against me.

From Under Wellington's Command A Tale of the Peninsular War by Paget, Walter