turn to

Verb

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

1. With to as particle
2. (intransitive) To apply oneself; to focus; to get one's head down.
   • All hands, turn to!
   • "No; because when I come in from the forge of a night, any one can see me turning to at it. But you never turn to at it, Biddy."1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XVII, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 269
3. (intransitive) To become.
   • Near-synonyms: (intransitive) get, turn, go, come, fall, grow, wax; (reflexive) make [oneself], make [oneself] into
   • all things turn to dust

   Synonyms:

   turn into, convert, change, transform, get, turn, go, come, fall, grow

4. (transitive) To cause (something or someone) to become.
   • Near-synonyms: (transitive) make, make into
   • He turned water to wine.

   Synonyms:

   turn into, convert, change, transform, make, make into

5. To consult for advice or help.
   • When I'm in trouble, I turn to my pastor to help me.

   Synonyms:

   run to, look to

6. To start to do or to use something in an attempt to deal with a difficult and unpleasant situation.
   • Breakups can be incredibly difficult, but one may wish to seek therapy rather than turn to drugs.
7. To direct one's attention or efforts toward something.
   • How do we find constructive ways to respond to a situation this complex? Two groups of essays in the anthology turn to this question.1987 February 22, N. Diffloth, “Violence, by Women, against Women”, in Gay Community News, volume 14, number 31, page 8
   • In 1939 he turned to films in earnest.
8. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see turn, to.
   • Turn to the left up here.
   • To start my homework, I had to turn to page twenty in my textbook.