turn over

verb

"turn-over" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To flip over; to rotate uppermost to bottom.

Corpus desk

Index EN-turn-over · turn over · English

turn over · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 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 over
PropertyValue
Headwordturn over
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “turn over” in English

turn overfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

turn over is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 10 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for turn over, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From turn + over. The correct English form is turn over, spelled T-U-R-N- -O-V-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    To flip over; to rotate uppermost to bottom.
  2. 2
    To relinquish; give back.
  3. 3
    To transfer.
  4. 4
    To produce, complete, or cycle through.
  5. 5
    To generate (a certain amount of money from sales).
  6. 6
    To mull, ponder
  7. 7
    To spin the crankshaft of an internal combustion engine using the starter or hand crank in an attempt to make it run.
  8. 8
    To give up control (of the ball and thus the ability to score).
  9. 9
    To cause extensive disturbance or disruption to (a room, storage place, etc.), e.g. while searching for an item, or ransacking a property.
  10. 10
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see turn, over.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Turn over the box and look at the bottom.
  2. The brakes were applied immediately, but the engine ran into a sand drag at approximately 20 m.p.h., plunged down the embankment, and turned over on its side at the bottom.

Etymology

From turn + over.

This word in other languages

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 over"?
"turn over" is spelled T-U-R-N- -O-V-E-R.
What does "turn over" mean?
As a verb, "turn over" means: To flip over; to rotate uppermost to bottom.
What is the origin of the word "turn over"?
From turn + over. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list