Word.ws English Dictionary

turn about is fair play

turn about is fair play is the alternative form of turnabout is fair play.

Meaning of turnabout is fair play

Proverb

turnabout is fair play

  1. It is allowable to retaliate against an enemy's dirty tricks by using the same ones against them.
    • My Endeavours were used to perplex their Thoughts and Judgments; I told them, that at next Wednesday’s Dinner I hoped we would be informed who were to rule the Roast, that hitherto honest Men were kept from shuffling the Cards, because they would cast Knaves out from the Company of Kings, but we...1755, Dudley Bradstreet, The Life and Uncommon Adventures of Captain Dudley Bradstreet, S. Powell, Dublin, p. 216
  2. Taking turns is morally right.
    • A good way to get started on a little sexual assertiveness training is to agree to take turns being “dominant.” One evening the man takes ... Well, turnabout is fair play, and it's time for the woman to do the work, to try to please her man. . . and to take pleasure from him in any way she can.1996, Doctor James White, Peter Kent, The Best Sex of Your Life, page 214

Questions about turn about is fair play

What is turn about is fair play the alternative form of?
Turn about is fair play is the alternative form of turnabout is fair play.

Words near turn about is fair play in the dictionary

  1. turn a phrase
  2. turn a profit
  3. turn a setback into a comeback
  4. turn a trick
  5. turn about
  6. turn about is fair play
  7. turn abouts
  8. turn again
  9. turn against
  10. turn an honest penny
  11. turn and turn about

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: turn about is fair play (page history and authors); turnabout is fair play (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “turn about is fair play.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/turn_about_is_fair_play. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.