turnback
turnback noun: part of a garment that is turned back.
Noun
turnback (countable and uncountable, plural turnbacks)
- Part of a garment that is turned back.
- The turning back of a weaver around another element.
- Most basketmakers make their turnbacks in a particular section of the weaving on the sides or in the middle of the basket.1991, Rachel Nash Law, Cynthia Wieboldt Taylor, Appalachian White Oak Basketmaking: Handing Down the Basket, page 86
- The act of turning back a boat containing immigrants.
- The information commissioner, Professor John McMillan, ruled that requests for watch officer logs and authorisations for turnbacks were exempt from release because they could have a “substantial adverse effect” on the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS).2015 July 20, Paul Farrell, “Details about asylum seeker turnbacks to remain secret, commissioner rules”, in The Guardian
- The strap from the hames to the hip-strap, on a horse.
- A place, e.g. on a railway, where vehicles can reverse direction, i.e. turn back.
- Removal of one set of train turnbacks also makes more efficient use of infrastructure and reduces peak loads at interchange stations.2023 June 14, David Clough, “Tram-trains are making tracks...”, in RAIL, number 985, page 54
- A cadet at a military academy who fails a class and has to retake it.
Forms of turnback
| plural | turnbacks |
|---|
Origin of turnback
Deverbal from turn back.
Words formed from turnback
Phrases with turnback
Questions about turnback
- What does turnback mean?
- Turnback means part of a garment that is turned back.
- What part of speech is turnback?
- Turnback is a noun.
- What is the plural of turnback?
- The plural of turnback is turnbacks.
Words near turnback in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: turnback (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: “turnback.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/turnback. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
