Word.ws English Dictionary

turnback

turnback noun: part of a garment that is turned back.

Noun

turnback (countable and uncountable, plural turnbacks)

  1. (attributive) Part of a garment that is turned back.
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. The strap from the hames to the hip-strap, on a horse.
  5. 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
  6. (US) A cadet at a military academy who fails a class and has to retake it.

Forms of turnback

pluralturnbacks

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

  1. turnaround time
  2. turnaround times
  3. turnarounds
  4. turnaway
  5. turnaways
  6. turnback
  7. turnback siding
  8. turnback sidings
  9. turnbacks
  10. turnbarrel
  11. turnbarrels

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.