turnout

noun

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

chiefly British

a

: strike sense 3a

b

: striker sense 1d

5

: a clearing out and cleaning

6

a

: a coach or carriage together with the horses, harness, and attendants

b

: equipment, rig

c

: manner of dress : getup

7

: net quantity of produce yielded

Examples of turnout in a Sentence

The opening game of the season brought only a small turnout.

a 50 percent voter turnout

Recent Examples on the Web

As Georgia's 2026 gubernatorial race begins to take shape, Black voter turnout is expected to remain a focus for both parties. —Zachary Bynum, CBS News, 7 June 2026

Around a half-million people came out for an evening prayer vigil in Madrid after Leo arrived on Saturday, recalling the impressive turnout the last time that a pontiff visited Madrid, when Pope Benedict XVI came in 2011 for World Youth Day. —ABC News, 6 June 2026

Migné was thrilled to see the turnout from the Haitian diaspora for Tuesday’s game and hopes an equally enthusiastic crowd shows up Friday to energize his team, which was forced to play all its World Cup qualifying matches away from home due to crime and instability on the island. —Miami Herald, 4 June 2026

Eager Georgia voters swarmed to polling places Monday morning, waiting in lines created by high turnout and technical problems at the start of three weeks of early voting before Election Day. —Tamar Hallerman, AJC.com, 4 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for turnout

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout

Kids 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 verb

ˌtər-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