What is "turning"

Turn \Turn\ (t[^u]rn), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Turned; p. pr. & vb. n. Turning.] [OE. turnen, tournen, OF. tourner, torner, turner, F. tourner, LL. tornare, fr. L. tornare to turn in a lathe, to rounds off, fr. tornus a lathe, Gr. ? a turner's chisel, a carpenter's tool for drawing circles; probably akin to E. throw. See Throw, and cf. Attorney, Return, Tornado, Tour, Tournament.]

1. To cause to move upon a center, or as if upon a center; to give circular motion to; to cause to revolve; to cause to move round, either partially, wholly, or repeatedly; to make to change position so as to present other sides in given directions; to make to face otherwise; as, to turn a wheel or a spindle; to turn the body or the head.

   Turn the adamantine spindle round.
   --Milton.

   The monarch turns him to his royal guest.
   --Pope.

2. To cause to present a different side uppermost or outmost; to make the upper side the lower, or the inside to be the outside of; to reverse the position of; as, to turn a box or a board; to turn a coat.

3. To give another direction, tendency, or inclination to; to direct otherwise; to deflect; to incline differently; -- used both literally and figuratively; as, to turn the eyes to the heavens; to turn a horse from the road, or a ship from her course; to turn the attention to or from something. ``Expert when to advance, or stand, or, turn the sway of battle.''
   --Milton.

   Thrice I deluded her, and turned to sport Her importunity.
   --Milton.

   My thoughts are turned on peace.
   --Addison.

4. To change from a given use or office; to divert, as to another purpose or end; to transfer; to use or employ; to apply; to devote.

   Therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David.
   --1 Chron. x. 14.

   God will make these evils the occasion of a greater good, by turning them to advantage in this world.
   --Tillotson.

   When the passage is open, land will be turned most to cattle; when shut, to sheep.
   --Sir W. Temple.

5. To change the form, quality, aspect, or effect of; to alter; to metamorphose; to convert; to transform; -- often with to or into before the word denoting the effect or product of the change; as, to turn a worm into a winged insect; to turn green to blue; to turn prose into verse; to turn a Whig to a Tory, or a Hindu to a Christian; to turn good to evil, and the like.

   The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee.
   --Deut. xxx. 3.

   And David said, O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
   --2 Sam. xv. 31.

   Impatience turns an ague into a fever.
   --Jer. Taylor.

6. To form in a lathe; to shape or fashion (anything) by applying a cutting tool to it while revolving; as, to turn the legs of stools or tables; to turn ivory or metal.

   I had rather hear a brazen candlestick turned.
   --Shak.

7. Hence, to give form to; to shape; to mold; to put in proper condition; to adapt. ``The poet's pen turns them to shapes.''
   --Shak.

   His limbs how turned, how broad his shoulders spread !
   --Pope.

   He was perfectly well turned for trade.
   --Addison.

8. Specifically:

   1. To translate; to construe; as, to turn the Iliad.

      Who turns a Persian tale for half a crown.
      --Pope.

   2. To make acid or sour; to ferment; to curdle, etc.: as, to turn cider or wine; electricity turns milk quickly.

   3. To sicken; to nauseate; as, an emetic turns one's stomach.

9. To make a turn about or around (something); to go or pass around by turning; as, to turn a corner. The ranges are not high or steep, and one can turn a kopje instead of cutting or tunneling through it. --James Bryce. To be turned of, be advanced beyond; as, to be turned of sixty-six. To turn a cold shoulder to, to treat with neglect or indifference. To turn a corner, to go round a corner. To turn adrift, to cast off, to cease to care for. To turn a flange (Mech.), to form a flange on, as around a metal sheet or boiler plate, by stretching, bending, and hammering, or rolling the metal. To turn against.

   1. To direct against; as, to turn one's arguments against himself.

   2. To make unfavorable or hostile to; as, to turn one's friends against him. To turn a hostile army, To turn the enemy's flank, or the like (Mil.), to pass round it, and take a position behind it or upon its side. To turn a penny, or To turn an honest penny, to make a small profit by trade, or the like. To turn around one's finger, to have complete control of the will and actions of; to be able to influence at pleasure. To turn aside, to avert. To turn away.

      1. To dismiss from service; to discard; as, to turn away a servant.

      2. To avert; as, to turn away wrath or evil. To turn back.

         1. To give back; to return.

            We turn not back the silks upon the merchants, When we have soiled them.
            --Shak.

         2. To cause to return or retrace one's steps; hence, to drive away; to repel. --Shak. To turn down.

            1. To fold or double down.

            2. To turn over so as to conceal the face of; as, to turn down cards.

   3. To lower, or reduce in size, by turning a valve, stopcock, or the like; as, turn down the lights. To turn in.

      1. To fold or double under; as, to turn in the edge of cloth.

      2. To direct inwards; as, to turn the toes in when walking.

      3. To contribute; to deliver up; as, he turned in a large amount. [Colloq.] To turn in the mind, to revolve, ponder, or meditate upon; -- with about, over, etc. `` Turn these ideas about in your mind.'' --I. Watts. To turn off.

         1. To dismiss contemptuously; as, to turn off a sycophant or a parasite.

         2. To give over; to reduce.

         3. To divert; to deflect; as, to turn off the thoughts from serious subjects; to turn off a joke.

   4. To accomplish; to perform, as work.

   5. (Mech.) To remove, as a surface, by the process of turning; to reduce in size by turning.

   6. To shut off, as a fluid, by means of a valve, stopcock, or other device; to stop the passage of; as, to turn off the water or the gas. To turn one's coat, to change one's uniform or colors; to go over to the opposite party. To turn one's goods or To turn one's money, and the like, to exchange in the course of trade; to keep in lively exchange or circulation; to gain or increase in trade. To turn one's hand to, to adapt or apply one's self to; to engage in. To turn out.

      1. To drive out; to expel; as, to turn a family out of doors; to turn a man out of office.

         I'll turn you out of my kingdom. -- Shak.

      2. to put to pasture, as cattle or horses.

      3. To produce, as the result of labor, or any process of manufacture; to furnish in a completed state.

      4. To reverse, as a pocket, bag, etc., so as to bring the inside to the outside; hence, to produce.

      5. To cause to cease, or to put out, by turning a stopcock, valve, or the like; as, to turn out the lights. To turn over.

         1. To change or reverse the position of; to overset; to overturn; to cause to roll over.

         2. To transfer; as, to turn over business to another hand.

         3. To read or examine, as a book, while, turning the leaves. ``We turned o'er many books together.''
            --Shak.

         4. To handle in business; to do business to the amount of; as, he turns over millions a year. [Colloq.] To turn over a new leaf. See under Leaf. To turn tail, to run away; to retreat ignominiously. To turn the back, to flee; to retreat. To turn the back on or To turn the back upon, to treat with contempt; to reject or refuse unceremoniously. To turn the corner, to pass the critical stage; to get by the worst point; hence, to begin to improve, or to succeed. To turn the die or To turn the dice, to change fortune. To turn the edge of or To turn the point of, to bend over the edge or point of so as to make dull; to blunt. To turn the head of or To turn the brain of, to make giddy, wild, insane, or the like; to infatuate; to overthrow the reason or judgment of; as, a little success turned his head. To turn the scale or To turn the balance, to change the preponderance; to decide or determine something doubtful; to tip the balance. To turn the stomach of, to nauseate; to sicken. To turn the tables, to reverse the chances or conditions of success or superiority; to give the advantage to the person or side previously at a disadvantage. To turn tippet, to make a change. [Obs.] --B. Jonson. To turn to profit, To turn to advantage, etc., to make profitable or advantageous. To turn turtle, to capsize bottom upward; -- said of a vessel. [Naut. slang] To turn under (Agric.), to put, as soil, manure, etc., underneath from the surface by plowing, digging, or the like. To turn up.

            1. To turn so as to bring the bottom side on top; as, to turn up the trump.

            2. To bring from beneath to the surface, as in plowing, digging, etc.

            3. To give an upward curve to; to tilt; as, to turn up the nose.

               To turn upon, to retort; to throw back; as, to turn the arguments of an opponent upon himself.

               To turn upside down, to confuse by putting things awry; to throw into disorder.

               This house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler died.
               --Shak.

Turning \Turn"ing\, n.

1. The act of one who, or that which, turns; also, a winding; a bending course; a fiexure; a meander.

   Through paths and turnings often trod by day.
   --Milton.

2. The place of a turn; an angle or corner, as of a road.

   It is preached at every turning.
   --Coleridge.

3. Deviation from the way or proper course.
   --Harmar.

4. Turnery, or the shaping of solid substances into various by means of a lathe and cutting tools.

5. pl. The pieces, or chips, detached in the process of turning from the material turned.

6. (Mil.) A maneuver by which an enemy or a position is turned.

   Turning and boring mill, a kind of lathe having a vertical spindle and horizontal face plate, for turning and boring large work.

   Turning bridge. See the Note under Drawbridge.

   Turning engine, an engine lathe.

   Turning lathe, a lathe used by turners to shape their work.

   Turning pair. See the Note under Pair, n.

   Turning point, the point upon which a question turns, and which decides a case.

n. 1 (context British English) A turn or deviation from a straight course. 2 (senseid en shaping)The shaping of wood or metal on a lathe. 3 The act of turning. vb. (present participle of turn English)

1. n. the act of changing or reversing the direction of the course; "he took a turn to the right" [syn: turn]

2. act of changing in practice or custom; "the law took many turnings over the years"

3. a movement in a new direction; "the turning of the wind" [syn: turn]

Turning, full title Turning: A Film by Charles Atlas and Antony is a documentary musical art film by video artist Charles Atlas based on a stage collaboration Atlas had with British-American artist Antony Hegarty and her band The Johnsons.

Turning is a machining process in which a cutting tool describes a helical toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece rotates.

Turning, a turning, or the turning may also refer to:

Turning is a machining process in which a cutting tool, typically a non-rotary tool bit, describes a helical toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece rotates. The tool's axes of movement may be literally a straight line, or they may be along some set of curves or angles, but they are essentially linear (in the nonmathematical sense). Usually the term "turning" is reserved for the generation of external surfaces by this cutting action, whereas this same essential cutting action when applied to internal surfaces (that is, holes, of one kind or another) is called " boring". Thus the phrase "turning and boring" categorizes the larger family of (essentially similar) processes. The cutting of faces on the workpiece (that is, surfaces perpendicular to its rotating axis), whether with a turning or boring tool, is called "facing", and may be lumped into either category as a subset.

Turning can be done manually, in a traditional form of lathe, which frequently requires continuous supervision by the operator, or by using an automated lathe which does not. Today the most common type of such automation is computer numerical control, better known as CNC. (CNC is also commonly used with many other types of machining besides turning.)

When turning, a piece of relatively rigid material (such as wood, metal, plastic, or stone) is rotated and a cutting tool is traversed along 1, 2, or 3 axes of motion to produce precise diameters and depths. Turning can be either on the outside of the cylinder or on the inside (also known as boring) to produce tubular components to various geometries. Although now quite rare, early lathes could even be used to produce complex geometric figures, even the platonic solids; although since the advent of CNC it has become unusual to use non-computerized toolpath control for this purpose.

The turning processes are typically carried out on a lathe, considered to be the oldest machine tools, and can be of four different types such as straight turning, taper turning, profiling or external grooving. Those types of turning processes can produce various shapes of materials such as straight, conical, curved, or grooved workpiece. In general, turning uses simple single-point cutting tools. Each group of workpiece materials has an optimum set of tools angles which have been developed through the years.

The bits of waste metal from turning operations are known as chips (North America), or swarf (Britain). In some areas they may be known as turnings.