turnoff

[ turn-awf, -of ]
See synonyms for turnoff on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a small road that branches off from a larger one, especially a ramp or exit leading off a major highway: He took the wrong turnoff and it took him some 15 minutes to get back on the turnpike.

  2. a place at which one diverges from or changes a former course.

  1. an act of turning off.

  2. the finished product of a certain manufacturing process, as weaving.

  3. the quantity of fattened livestock distributed to market.

  4. Slang. something or someone that makes one unsympathetic or antagonistic.

Origin of turnoff

1
First recorded in 1680–90; noun use of verb phrase turn off

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use turnoff in a sentence

  • He did turn, the next time a lightning flash showed him a turn-off beside a rural free delivery mailbox.

    Operation Terror | William Fitzgerald Jenkins
  • "I don't think there are any car tracks at the turn-off where we came in," said Lockley in a level voice.

    Operation Terror | William Fitzgerald Jenkins
  • There's another camp, not so far, but it has a 'blind turn-off'—you'd never find it if you didn't know just exactly where to look.

    The Castaways of Pete's Patch | Carroll Watson Rankin
  • A short distance beyond the Pohono Trail turn-off, our trail branches to the right and enters the fir and pine forest.

    Guide to Yosemite | Ansel Hall
  • Fraser, his daughter and their two guests were on the road to Kaburie, and within a few miles of the turn-off to Boorala.

    Tom Gerrard | Louis Becke

British Dictionary definitions for turn off

turn off

verb
  1. to leave (a road, pathway, etc)

  2. (of a road, pathway, etc) to deviate from (another road, etc)

  1. (tr, adverb) to cause (something) to cease operating by turning a knob, pushing a button, etc: to turn off the radio

  2. (tr) informal to cause (a person, etc) to feel dislike or distaste for (something): this music turns me off

  3. (tr, adverb) British informal to dismiss from employment

nounturn-off
  1. a road or other way branching off from the main thoroughfare

  2. informal a person or thing that elicits dislike or distaste

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with turnoff

turnoff

Stop the operation, activity, or flow of; shut off, as in Turn off the lights when you leave. [Mid-1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.