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Tuscany
Turner, J.M.W. (1775-1851) one of the greatest British paint-
ers, known for his pictures of the countryside, the sea, and
the sky, in which he uses colour and light to show the force
of the wind and sea, as in his famous painting The Fighting
Téméraire. There is a special part of TATE BRITAIN in London
where many of his paintings can be seen. → see colour
photo on page A29
Turner, Kathleen /'kæθli:n/ (1954-) a US actress who
became known for her EROTIC scenes in her first film Body
Heat (1982). Her other films include Romancing The Stone,
and The War of the Roses.
Turner, La-na /'lɑ:nə/ (1921-1995) a US actress who became a
SEX SYMBOL and was often called 'The Sweater Girl'. In 1958
her lover, the GANGSTER Johnny Stompanato, was stabbed
to death by her teenage daughter. Her films included Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1941), The Postman Always Rings Twice
(1946), and Peyton Place (1957).
Turner, Nat /næt/ (1800-31) a US slave who organized a
successful REVOLT (=an attack against people in authority)
against Southern slave owners in 1831. He was caught and
later hanged (HANG) for his actions.
Turner, Ted (1938-) a US businessman and sportsman who
started CNN (Cable News Network), a CABLE television
company that was the first to broadcast news all day and
night. He also started the Turner Broadcasting System. In
1996 he sold both companies to Time Warner. He owns the
Atlanta Braves BASEBALL team, the Atlanta Hawks BASKET-
BALL team, and the Atlanta Thrashers ICE HOCKEY team. He
was married to the actress Jane Fonda for a number of years.
Turner, Ti-na /'ti:nə/ (1938-) a US singer who first became
famous singing with her husband Ike Turner in the 1960s.
She later became even more successful as a SOLO singer. She
is known for her dramatic and sexually exciting perform-
ances on stage, and her songs include River Deep, Mountain
High (1966) and What's Love Got to Do With It? (1984).
Turner Broadcasting System, the abbrev. TBS trade-
mark a US television company, based in Atlanta, Georgia,
whose programmes are shown mainly on CABLE and SATEL-
LITE television.
Turner Prize, the an important prize that is given each
year to a British artist under 50 years old for a work of VISUAL
ART. The Tate Modern GALLERY organizes an EXHIBITION
(=public show of works of art) of the works on the SHORTLIST
from which the judges choose the winner. The works in the
competition have often caused a lot of discussion and
disagreement, for example Rachel Whiteread's House,
Damien Hurst's Mother and Child Divided, and Tracy Emin's
My Bed.
turn-ing /'t3:nɪŋ||'t3:r-/ BrE || turn AmE — n a place where
one road branches off from another: Go down the road, and
take the first turning on the right.
turning circle n the smallest circle round which a motor
vehicle can be driven: Although it's a big car it has a
surprisingly small turning circle.
turning point n a point in time at which a very important
change takes place: a turning point in our country's indus-
trial development
tur-nip /'t3:nɪp||'t3:r-/ n [C;U] (a plant producing) a large
round yellowish or white root which is used as a vegetable
turn-key¹ /'t3:nki:||'t3:rn-/ n old use for JAILER
turnkey² adj [A] constructed and/or delivered ready to oper-
ate: a turnkey project for a nuclear plant | turnkey computer
systems
turn-off n 1 a smaller road branching off from a main road
→ see also TURN OFF 2 infml something that causes one to
feel dislike or lose interest, especially sexually → see also
TURN OFF
Turn of the 'Screw, The (1898) a GHOST story by Henry
JAMES about a woman who believes that evil dead people
are influencing two children she is caring for
turn-on n infml something that excites or interests one
strongly, especially sexually → see also TURN ON
turn-out /'t3:naut||'t3:rn-/ n 1 a) the number of people
who attend a gathering; ATTENDANCE b) the number of
people who actually vote at an election: Intense interest in
the election ensured a high turnout. → see also TURN
OUT 2 [C usually sing.] infml the manner or style in which a
person is dressed: a colourful turnout → see also TURN
OUT 3 AmE a wide place in a narrow road where cars can pass
or park
turn-o-ver /'t3:nəʊvə||'t3:rn-/ n 1 [S] the rate at which a
particular kind of article is sold: These new products have had
a quick turnover (=many have been sold in a short
time) 2 [S] the amount of business done in a particular
period, measured in money: The shop has a turnover of
£5000 a week. → see also TURN OVER 3 [S] the rate at which
workers leave a company or organization and new workers
are employed to take their places: They have a very high
turnover of staff because their working conditions are so
bad. 4 [C] a small fruit PIE: an apple turnover → compare
POPOVER 5 AmE an act of a team's losing possession of the
ball (in football or BASKETBALL) because of breaking the rules
turn-pike /'t3:npaɪk||'t3:rn-/ also pike, turnpike 'road
n 1 AmE a main road for the use of fast-travelling traffic,
especially one which drivers must pay to use 2 (formerly in
Britain) a road which travellers had to pay to use → see
Cultural Note at HIGHWAY
turn-round /'t3:nraʊnd||'t3:rn-/ BrE || also turnaround espe-
cially AmE — n 1 (the time taken for) receiving and dealing
with something and sending it back, especially the arrival,
unloading, reloading, and leaving of a plane, ship etc → see
also TURN ROUND 2 [C usually sing.] a change to an opposite
and usually better situation: The turnaround in the football
club's fortunes dates from the day they got their new manager.
turn-stile /'t3:nstaɪl||'t3:rn-/ n a small gate with arms spin-
ning round on a central post, set in an entrance to let
people in one at a time, usually after payment
turn-stone /'t3:nstəʊn||'t3:rn-/ n a small bird which lives
by the sea and turns over stones, looking for small animals
to eat
turn-ta-ble /'t3:n,teɪbəl||'t3:rn-/ n 1 the round spinning
surface on which a record is placed to be played 2 a large
flat round surface, sunk into the ground, onto which rail-
way engines run to be turned round
'turn-up n 1 [C] BrE || cuff AmE — a narrow band of cloth
turned upwards at the bottom of a trouser leg 2 [S] also
turn-up for the 'book BrE infml an unexpected and surprising
event
tur-pen-tine /'t3:pəntaɪn||'t3:r-/ also turps /t3:ps||t3:rps/
BrE infml — n [U] a thin oil made from the wood of certain
trees, used for removing unwanted paint from clothes,
brushes etc, for mixing with paint to make it thinner, and in
medicine
Tur-pin, Dick /'t3:pɪn||'t3:r-/ (1706-39) an English HIGHWAY-
MAN (=a criminal who stole from people travelling in car-
riages). He was HANGED for his crimes, but there are many
popular stories about his adventures.
tur-pi-tude /'t3:pɪtju:d||'t3:rpɪtu:d/ n [U] fml or pomp shame-
ful wickedness: gross moral turpitude
tur-quoise¹ /'t3:kwɔɪz, -kwɑ:z||'t3:rkɔɪz/ n [C;U] (a
shaped piece of a precious greenish-blue mineral. Turquoise
is often used in Native American jewellery.
turquoise² adj of the colour of turquoise
tur-ret /'tʌrɪt/ n 1 a small tower, usually at a corner of a
larger building and usually either decorative or for defence
→ see picture at CASTLE 2 a low heavily armoured metal
DOME on a TANK, plane, warship etc, that spins round to allow
its guns to be aimed in any direction — -ed adj
tur-tle /'t3:tl||'t3:rtl/ n pl. turtles or turtle 1 an animal that
lives especially in water and has a soft body covered by a
hard bony shell into which the head, legs, and tail can be
pulled for protection → compare TORTOISE; see also MOCK
TURTLE SOUP and see picture at TORTOISE 2 turn turtle (of a
ship) to turn over; CAPSIZE
tur-tle-dove /'t3:tldʌv||'t3:r-/ n a bird with a pleasant soft
cry, whose males and females are supposed to love each
other very much
tur-tle-neck /'t3:tlnek||'t3:r-/ n especially AmE (a garment
with) a POLO NECK
turves /t3:vz||t3:rvz/ n pl. of TURF
Tus-ca-ny /'tʌskəni/ an area of north central Italy which is
famous for its wine and for its beautiful old cities such as Pisa,