turnings

Noun

turning (plural turnings)

1. (Ireland, UK) A turn or deviation from a straight course.
   • Take the second turning on the left.
2. (field hockey) At hockey, a foul committed by a player attempting to hit the ball who interposes their body between the ball and an opposing player trying to do the same.
3. The cutting of wood or metal on a lathe to shape it as needed.
4. The act of one who turns (rotates or twists).
   • Still talking—more to herself than to the children—she swam into a majestical dance of the stateliest balancings, the haughtiest wheelings and turnings aside, the most dignified sinkings, the gravest risings, all joined together by the elaboratest interlacing steps and circles.1910, Rudyard Kipling, Rewards and Fairies
5. One of the four eras, each lasting for about 21 years, that make up a saeculum according to the Strauss-Howe generational theory.
   • Howe and Strauss predicted that in the Fourth Turning, Millennials would unite behind their president.
6. (plural, plural-only) Shavings produced by turning something on a lathe.
   • The turnings get into your trouser turnups!

   Synonyms:

   swarf