turn away

Definition of turn awaynext
as in to repel
to drive back using tree branches, the campers were able to turn away the charging fox, which was apparently rabid

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of turn away Early Thursday afternoon, Homeland Security shared a video of Allen, with her hands behind her back, being arrested by several law enforcement agents, whose faces are pixelated or turned away from the camera. Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 22 Jan. 2026 No one will be turned away from warming shelters during the extreme cold expected to settle over Milwaukee in the coming days, county officials said. Madeline Heim, jsonline.com, 22 Jan. 2026 On Wednesday, Newsom’s team announced that he had been turned away from USA House, the privately run but official gathering spot of the United States. Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026 Trump administration officials say the officer, Jonathan Ross, shot her in self-defense, although videos of the encounter show the Honda Pilot slowly turning away from him. Alanna Durkin Richer, Chicago Tribune, 21 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for turn away
Recent Examples of Synonyms for turn away
Verb
  • Inviting in such resolute saboteurs, these institutions repel many in their core audience.
    Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
  • In ancient China, Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) takes her ailing father’s place as a conscript by disguising herself as a man to help repel the invading Huns.
    David Faris, TheWeek, 27 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Monday's situation at the airport was much calmer, despite below-freezing temperatures that caused the weekend's rainfall to turn back into ice.
    Dan Raby, CBS News, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Morris shook Crockett’s hand before turning back down the sidewalk.
    Kate Armanini, Chicago Tribune, 26 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Crystals are materials whose particles form repeating patterns that resist deformation, commonly seen in nature as snowflakes, diamonds, or table salt.
    Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Besides, Wall Street’s infatuation with AI was likely too hard to resist.
    Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 29 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • For reasons that are quite possibly too unbearable to contemplate, a large group of American voters was not repulsed by such slander—they were actually aroused by it—and our politics have not been the same.
    Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2026
  • Nicole is the kind of wife who moves out of her father’s home into her husband’s home, and who has been taught to be repulsed by the mushroom spores covering her body, just like all the women in their community.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • The dogs had driven the woman into the surf before a tourist came to her rescue, beating off the dingoes.
    CBS News, CBS News, 20 Jan. 2026
  • On this play, Tegra Tshabola got beat off the ball, forcing Donaldson to take a different hole before running into a defender who center Carson Hinzman was on until the hole shifted.
    Cameron Teague Robinson, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Gibney illustrates that state of waiting, of staving off what at that time appears to be the inevitable, with the famous sequence from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, in which Max von Sydow’s medieval knight plays chess with Death on a desolate beach.
    David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 25 Jan. 2026
  • The 76ers had pulled within two late until Anunoby and Landry Shamet followed with consecutive 3s that helped the Knicks stave off the late-game collapse.
    CBS News, CBS News, 24 Jan. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Turn away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/turn%20away. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.

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