turn out

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"turn-out" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“turn out” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To end up; to result.

Corpus desk

Index EN-turn-out · turn out · English

turn out · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for turn out
PropertyValue
Headwordturn out
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “turn out” sits in English frequency

turn outsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

turn out is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 17 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for turn out in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English turnen out, tornen out, equivalent to turn + out. The slang and prison terms meaning "to turn into a prostitute, etc." are probably an ellipsis for turn (inside) out (“to flip someone's character or role”). The correct English form is turn out, spelled T-U-R-N- -O-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To end up; to result.
  2. 2
    To succeed; work out; turn out well.
  3. 3
    To attend; show up.
  4. 4
    To go out; to leave one's home.
  5. 5
    To extinguish a light or other device.
  6. 6
    To become apparent or known, especially (as) it turns out
  7. 7
    To produce; make.
  8. 8
    To leave a road.
  9. 9
    To remove from a mould, bowl etc.
  10. 10
    To empty for inspection.
  11. 11
    To refuse service or shelter; to eject or evict.
  12. 12
    To convince a person (usually a woman) to become a prostitute.
  13. 13
    To rape; to coerce an otherwise heterosexual individual into performing a homosexual role.
  14. 14
    To put (cattle) out to pasture.
  15. 15
    To convince to vote
  16. 16
    To leave one's work to take part in a strike.
  17. 17
    To get out of bed; get up.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how turn out appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I had hoped our first meeting would turn out better.
  2. The truth turned out to be more depressing than we thought.

Etymology

From Middle English turnen out, tornen out, equivalent to turn + out. The slang and prison terms meaning "to turn into a prostitute, etc." are probably an ellipsis for turn (inside) out (“to flip someone's character or role”).

This word in other languages

resultar(Español)se finir(Français)dass(Deutsch)terminar(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "turn out"?
"turn out" is spelled T-U-R-N- -O-U-T.
What does "turn out" mean?
As a verb, "turn out" means: To end up; to result.
What is the origin of the word "turn out"?
From Middle English turnen out, tornen out, equivalent to turn + out. The slang and prison terms meaning "to turn into a prostitute, etc." are probably an ellipsis for turn (inside) out (“to flip someone's character or role”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

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Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list