Word.ws English Dictionary

handbrake turn

handbrake turn noun: an automobile driving manoeuvre where the driver starts turning the vehicle and then pulls on the handbrake to make the rear tyres lose adhesion and thus cause the back of the vehicle to slide around (in the direction of the turn).

Noun

handbrake turn (plural handbrake turns)

  1. An automobile driving manoeuvre where the driver starts turning the vehicle and then pulls on the handbrake to make the rear tyres lose adhesion and thus cause the back of the vehicle to slide around (in the direction of the turn).
    • The man did a handbrake turn, putting the car into a wild spin.2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN
  2. (figuratively) An abrupt change of opinion.
    • The Tony Blair who told his party conference that he has no reverse gear has performed a screaming handbrake turn for a man he once described as an 'absolute disaster'.2003 December 21, Andrew Rawnsley, “Washed out, not washed up”, in The Observer
    • The argument that we cannot take part because of our history no longer holds true. This volte-face - a political handbrake turn, compared with the policies that Schröder's predecessor as SPD (Social Democrats) leader had stood for - was made simpler by the fact that the shift in German public...2005, Steve Crawshaw, Easier Fatherland: Germany in the Twenty-First Century, Continuum International Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 126

Examples of handbrake turn in a sentence

  • Can I turn now to your handbrake turn on SIPPs, where you have prohibited all investment in residential property.2005, The 2005 pre-Budget report : second report of Session 2005-06, Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee...
  • Nevertheless, Rangers, hitherto wary of compromising any Champions League involvement, have now performed a handbrake turn and come out in support of such an arrangement.2006, Gary Oliver, “Eurovision”, in Power, Corruption and Pies, volume 2, WSC Books Limited, →ISBN, page 120:

Synonyms of handbrake turn

Forms of handbrake turn

pluralhandbrake turns

Questions about handbrake turn

What does handbrake turn mean?
Handbrake turn means an automobile driving manoeuvre where the driver starts turning the vehicle and then pulls on the handbrake to make the rear tyres lose adhesion and thus cause the back of the vehicle to slide around (in the direction of the turn).
How do you use handbrake turn in a sentence?
Can I turn now to your handbrake turn on SIPPs, where you have prohibited all investment in residential property.
What part of speech is handbrake turn?
Handbrake turn is a noun.
What is the plural of handbrake turn?
The plural of handbrake turn is handbrake turns.

Words near handbrake turn in the dictionary

  1. handbooking
  2. handbooks
  3. handbound
  4. handbra
  5. handbrake
  6. handbrake turn
  7. handbrake turns
  8. handbraked
  9. handbrakes
  10. handbraking
  11. handbras

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: handbrake turn (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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