turn out

Verb

turn out (third-person singular simple present turns out, present participle turning out, simple past and past participle turned out)

1. (copulative, idiomatic, intransitive) To end up; to result.
   • I had hoped our first meeting would turn out better.
   • The truth turned out to be more depressing than we thought.
2. (intransitive, by ellipsis) To succeed; work out; turn out well.
   • I'm afraid the cake didn't turn out.
   • Starting a new story, I hope it turns out.1965 February 13, Lou Sullivan, Diary
3. (idiomatic, intransitive) To attend; show up.
   • Hundreds of people turned out to see the parade.
   • The train is usually crowded and half the township of Forres seems to turn out to watch it go off.1944 January and February, W. McGowan Gradon, “Forres as a Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 23
4. (dated, intransitive) To go out; to leave one's home.
   • But then one of Mr. Knott's men would have had to put on his coat and hat and turn out, as likely as not in the pitch dark, and in torrents of rain in all probability, and grope his way in the dark in the pours of rain, with the pot of food in his hand, a wretched and ridiculous figure, to where...1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC
5. (idiomatic, transitive) To extinguish a light or other device.
   • Turn out the lights before you leave.
   • The day grew strong, and showed itself outside, even against the flaming lights within. The lights were turned out, and the work went on.1854, Dickens, chapter 11, in Hard Times

   Synonyms:

   turn off, switch out, switch off

6. (idiomatic, intransitive) To become apparent or known, especially (as) it turns out
   • It turns out that he just made a lucky guess.
   • As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help, and he stripped off his tunic at once.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
7. (idiomatic, transitive) To produce; make.
   • The bakery turns out three hundred pies each day.
   • This new locomotive was turned out of Doncaster works in May, 1934, to a mighty fanfare of trumpets.1942 February, O. S. Nock, “The Locomotives of Sir Nigel Gresley: Part VII”, in Railway Magazine, page 44
8. (intransitive) To leave a road.
   • Turn out at the third driveway.
9. (transitive) To remove from a mould, bowl etc.
   • Turn out the dough onto a board and shape it.
   • He had found the pocket, and was turning out the contents.1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle
10. (transitive) To empty for inspection.
    • Please turn out your pockets.
    • The security guard asked everyone to turn out their bags.
11. (idiomatic, transitive) To refuse service or shelter; to eject or evict.
    • The hotel staff hastened to turn out the noisy drunk.
    • The poor family were turned out of their lodgings at only an hour's notice.
12. (slang, transitive) To convince a person (usually a woman) to become a prostitute; to pimp or manage a prostitute.
    • He then turned her out onto the streets of Chicago with a quota to meet: $500 for a night's work.2008, Carolyn Maloney, Rumors of Our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
    • Like I told you, I'm still turning this one bitch out. […] Sunday is three days away, if you ain't turned her out by then she ain't worth it.2008, Joseph B. Haggerty, Sr., Shame: The Story of a Pimp, page 361

    Synonyms:

    harlotize, whore out, dog out, hustle, mack, pander, pimp, pimp out, ponce, prostitute