turn·out
ˈtərn-ˌau̇t 
1
: the number of people who participate in or attend an event
a heavy voter turnout
2
a
: a place where something (such as a road) turns out or branches off
b
: a space adjacent to a highway in which vehicles may park or pull into to enable others to pass
c
: a railroad siding
3
: an act of turning out
4
5
: a clearing out and cleaning
6
7
: net quantity of produce yielded
turned out; turning out; turns out
1
a
: to come or go out from home in or as if in answer to a summons
voters turned out in droves
b
: to get out of bed
2
a
: to prove to be in the result or end
the play turned out to be a flop
it turned out that we were both wrong
b
: to become in maturity
nobody thought he'd turn out like this
c
: end
stories that turn out happily
1
: to put out by or as if by turning a switch
turn out the lights
2
: to produce often rapidly or regularly by or as if by machine
a writer turning out stories
3
a
: to turn inside out
turning out his pockets
b
: to empty the contents of especially for cleaning or rearranging
also
: clean
5
: to equip, dress, or finish in a careful or elaborate way
6
: to call (a guard, a company, etc.) out from rest or shelter and into formation
Examples of turnout in a Sentence
Noun
The opening game of the season brought only a small turnout.
a 50 percent voter turnout
Verb
we turn out early on workdays
it's our practice to turn out the room after guests stay over
Recent Examples on the Web
Sierra Lopez, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024
The careful planning has helped achieve high voter turnout.
—Hari Kumar, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2024
In that election more than 67% of Indians cast their ballot — the highest voter turnout in the country’s history.
—Helen Regan, CNN, 12 Apr. 2024
The Indian Election Commission has long seen high voter turnouts.
—Astha Rajvanshi, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
Because turnout was so low in last June’s city election, petitioners would need to collect only 4,137 valid signatures, according to the letter of certification signed by City Clerk Marilyn Sanders on Sunday, the same day that Platt’s contract was signed and executed.
—Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 10 Apr. 2024
But data collected on the day of the event, like information collected from tolls, could show an even larger turnout.
—Christina Coulter, Fox News, 5 Apr. 2024
April 2, 2024 The palpable apathy among voters has played out in low turnout in primaries across the country.
—Faith E. Pinho, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
His initial journey in January, traveling six hours from his home in Oregon to San Francisco for an earlier vote there, was thwarted by overwhelming turnout organizers say exceeded 100,000.
—Joe Rubin, Sacramento Bee, 2 Apr. 2024
Michael Holden, USA TODAY, 18 Apr. 2024
That information turned out to be wrong — the suspect, Daniel Elena-Lopez, was carrying a bike lock, not a gun.
—Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024
Stereotypes turn out to be red herrings, for investigators as well as viewers.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 16 Apr. 2024
Despite missing the entire 2022-23 season and being suspended for the first 10 games of 2023-24 — after pleading no contest to felony domestic violence charges — Bridges turned out to be one of the Hornets’ steadiest players.
—Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 16 Apr. 2024
Kim’s response turned out to be exactly what Foxx was looking for.
—Antonia Debianchi, Peoplemag, 15 Apr. 2024
And it’s turned out to be a hit as well, garnering something like a half-billion streams in the U.S. alone.
—Jim Harrington, The Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2024
But over time, all turn out to be about the same things.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2024
The Timberwolves were the only one of the top-three seeds in the West to lose their last game, falling 125-106 to the Phoenix Suns in what ironically turned out to be a playoff series preview.
—Sam Joseph and Jacob Lev, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
Noun
Voter turnout in the district has been low historically.
—Sierra Lopez, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024
The careful planning has helped achieve high voter turnout.
—Hari Kumar, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2024
In that election more than 67% of Indians cast their ballot — the highest voter turnout in the country’s history.
—Helen Regan, CNN, 12 Apr. 2024
The Indian Election Commission has long seen high voter turnouts.
—Astha Rajvanshi, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
Because turnout was so low in last June’s city election, petitioners would need to collect only 4,137 valid signatures, according to the letter of certification signed by City Clerk Marilyn Sanders on Sunday, the same day that Platt’s contract was signed and executed.
—Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 10 Apr. 2024
But data collected on the day of the event, like information collected from tolls, could show an even larger turnout.
—Christina Coulter, Fox News, 5 Apr. 2024
April 2, 2024 The palpable apathy among voters has played out in low turnout in primaries across the country.
—Faith E. Pinho, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
His initial journey in January, traveling six hours from his home in Oregon to San Francisco for an earlier vote there, was thwarted by overwhelming turnout organizers say exceeded 100,000.
—Joe Rubin, Sacramento Bee, 2 Apr. 2024
Verb
But other royals who turned out for the service at Windsor Castle included Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Duchess Sophie and Prince Andrew.
—Michael Holden, USA TODAY, 18 Apr. 2024
That information turned out to be wrong — the suspect, Daniel Elena-Lopez, was carrying a bike lock, not a gun.
—Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024
Stereotypes turn out to be red herrings, for investigators as well as viewers.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 16 Apr. 2024
Despite missing the entire 2022-23 season and being suspended for the first 10 games of 2023-24 — after pleading no contest to felony domestic violence charges — Bridges turned out to be one of the Hornets’ steadiest players.
—Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 16 Apr. 2024
Kim’s response turned out to be exactly what Foxx was looking for.
—Antonia Debianchi, Peoplemag, 15 Apr. 2024
And it’s turned out to be a hit as well, garnering something like a half-billion streams in the U.S. alone.
—Jim Harrington, The Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2024
But over time, all turn out to be about the same things.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2024
The Timberwolves were the only one of the top-three seeds in the West to lose their last game, falling 125-106 to the Phoenix Suns in what ironically turned out to be a playoff series preview.
—Sam Joseph and Jacob Lev, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'turnout.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near turnout
Cite this Entry
“Turnout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turnout. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
turnout
1 of 2 noun
turn·out
ˈtər-ˌnau̇t
: the number of people who attend or who do something (as vote)
a good turnout at the meeting
expected a light voter turnout
turn out
2 of 2 verbˌtər-ˈnau̇t,
ˈtər-
1
: to put or empty out of a container
2
: to make by or as if by machine
the factory turns out automobiles
turns out a new story every month
3
: turn off sense 2
who turned out the light?
4
: to come or go out from home
thousands turned out to see them
5
: to prove to be
it turned out to be only the cat
of course, I turned out to be right
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