turnover

noun turn·over \ ˈtərn-ˌō-vər \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

1 a (1) : the amount received in sales for a stated period

(2) : the ratio of sales for a stated period to average inventory

(3) : a cycle of purchase, sale, and replacement of a stock of goods

b : the number of persons hired within a period to replace those leaving or dropped from a workforce; also : the ratio of this number to the number in the average force maintained

c : movement (as of goods or people) into, through, and out of a place

2 : the amount of business done; especially : the volume of shares traded on a stock exchange

3 : the act or an instance of a team's losing possession of a ball through error or a minor violation of the rules (as in basketball or football)

4 : a filled pastry made by folding half of the crust over the other half

5 : an act or result of turning over : upset

6 : a turning from one side, place, or direction to its opposite : shift, reversal

7 : a reorganization with a view to a shift in personnel : shake-up

8 : something that is turned over

9 : the continuous process of loss and replacement of a constituent (such as a cell or tissue) of a living system

See turnover defined for English-language learners

See turnover defined for kids

Examples of turnover in a Sentence

The company had an increase in turnover this quarter.
The company has a high turnover rate.
We want to find ways to speed up inventory turnover.

Recent Examples of turnover from the Web

Considering the company’s aggressive plans to for U.S. expansion (there were rumors of there being up to six new store openings in NYC), sudden turnover of this nature is surprising.

— kathleen hou, The Cut, "Deciem CEO Brandon Truaxe Continues to Worry Fans, Lays Off Entire U.S. Staff," 4 Apr. 2018
In the past two years, average daily turnover was $140 million.

— dani burger, Bloomberg.com, "Exotic ETF Trading Is Surging Once Again," 29 Mar. 2018
While such turnover is rarely good for morale or the crafting of coherent policy, a bigger problem lurks.

— The Economist, "Personnel changes leave fewer checks on Donald Trump’s impulses," 28 Mar. 2018
Maximum fines per violation are set at 4 percent of a company’s global turnover (or $20 million, whichever is larger).

— russell brandom, The Verge, "How Europe’s new privacy rule is reshaping the internet," 28 Mar. 2018
Kansas had eight early turnovers, and one turned into a breakaway dunk by Grayson Allen.

— andrew joseph, For The Win, "Grayson Allen got away with a blatant travel before his fastbreak dunk," 25 Mar. 2018
This pastry turnover was historically a favorite for the working class due to its affordability, and is now synonymous with Argentinian cuisine.

— kristin braswell, ELLE Decor, "Just In: Buenos Aires Is The New Paris," 19 Mar. 2018
The turnover is a troubling sign for some lawmakers at a time of mounting foreign policy crises in North Korea and souring relations with Russia.

— liz goodwin, BostonGlobe.com, "White House churn reaches new heights in a chaotic week," 15 Mar. 2018
Tenpas' research shows that the turnover during Trump's first year is more than triple than that of President Barack Obama and double of that of President Ronald Reagan.

— refinery29.com, "Here's Everyone Who Has Left The Trump Administration," 13 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'turnover.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of turnover

14th century

Other Business Terms

amortize, caveat emptor, clearinghouse, divest, due diligence, emolument, green-collar, marque, overhead, perquisite

turnover

adjective

: capable of being turned over

First Known Use of turnover

circa 1849

turn over

verb

transitive verb

1 a : to turn from an upright position : overturn

b : rotate

turn over a stiff valve with a wrench

; also : to cause (an internal combustion engine) to begin firing

2 : deliver, surrender

I'm turning the job over to you

; also : to lose possession of

turned the ball over three times

3 a : to do business to the amount of

turning over $1000 a week

b : to receive and dispose of (a stock of merchandise)

4 : to search (clothes, papers, etc.) by lifting or moving one by one

5 : to read or examine (something, such as a book) slowly or idly

intransitive verb

1 : upset, capsize

2 a : rotate

b of an engine : to have crankshaft rotation especially by external means (as by a starter)

the engine turned over but didn't start

3 a of one's stomach : to heave with nausea

b of one's heart : to seem to leap or lurch convulsively with sudden fright

— turn over a new leaf

: to make a change for the better especially in one's way of living

See turn over defined for kids

Examples of turn over in a Sentence

reluctantly turned the ship over to the first mate while he went below to try to stop the leak
turned the evidence over to the police

Recent Examples of turn over from the Web

Lopez was turned over to Waterbury police, who had a warrant charging him in an unrelated larceny case.

— bill leukhardt, courant.com, "Thief Caught After Locking Keys In Stolen Get-Away Car: Police," 13 Apr. 2018
In each case, the strip was photographed and turned over to Harford County Sheriff’s Office deputies to assume an investigation into the outside senders, the civilian side, Jerousek said.

— erika butler, The Aegis, "Strict mail inspection process aims to keep contraband, particularly drugs, out of Harford jail," 11 Apr. 2018
That’s likely because the water column was still separated into distinct saltwater and mostly freshwater layers—and hadn’t started turning over at high rates, Schmidt says.

— randall hyman, Science | AAAS, "Polar sea ice leads to more productive oceans," 6 Apr. 2018
Cambridge Analytica was sufficiently relevant to the Trump campaign’s efforts that, according to The Wall Street Journal, special counsel Robert Mueller has asked the firm to turn over the e-mails of any employees who worked on the campaign.

— isobel thompson, The Hive, "The Secret History of Steve Bannon and Alexander Nix, Explained," 21 Mar. 2018
In December, moreover, special counsel Robert Mueller requested that the company turn over internal documents related to the 2016 election.

— alex shephard, The New Republic, "Cambridge Analytica Is Shady. But Facebook is Shadier.," 20 Mar. 2018
Anyone who uses Google and Facebook is giving up heaps of it regularly, not to mention those of us who download apps onto our smartphones and then turn over our location and personal information.

— david muller, Car and Driver, "Connected Cars Serve Up a Feast of Consumer Data, But Who Will Benefit?," 14 Feb. 2018
The investigation was then turned over to the department’s homicide detail, Williams said.

— steve dreyer, Pomerado News, "Man fatally stabbed in Poway," 15 Jan. 2018
Last fall, Judge Alsup ordered the Trump administration to turn over internal White House documents concerning why DACA was canceled.

— josh blackman, National Review, "A Ludicrous Ruling That Trump Can’t End DACA," 10 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'turn over.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of turn over

14th century

turn over Synonyms

TURNOVER Defined for English Language Learners

turnover

noun

: the amount of money that is received in sales by a store or company
: the rate at which people leave a place, company, etc., and are replaced by others
: the rate at which the goods in a store are sold and replaced by other goods