about-turn

See also: about turn

English

From the imperative phrase used in the military.

about-turn (plural about-turns)

(British, military) A turn of 180 degrees, typically in a military formation[First attested in the mid 20^th century.].[1]
Total reversal of opinion or attitude[First attested in the mid 20^th century.].[1]
- 2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph‎:
  A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward.

turn of 180 degrees

total reversal of opinion or attitude

about-turn (third-person singular simple present about-turns, present participle about-turning, simple past and past participle about-turned)

to turn 180 degrees

Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “about-turn”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 7.

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