Found 1 items, similar to To turn over a new leaf.
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Definition: To turn over a new leaf
(l[=e]f), n.; pl. Leaves
(l[=e]vz). [OE. leef,
lef, leaf, AS. le['a]f; akin to S. l[=o]f, OFries. laf, D.
loof foliage, G. laub, OHG. loub leaf, foliage, Icel. lauf,
Sw. l["o]f, Dan. l["o]v, Goth. laufs; cf. Lith. lapas. Cf.
1. (Bot.) A colored, usually green, expansion growing from
the side of a stem or rootstock, in which the sap for the
use of the plant is elaborated under the influence of
light; one of the parts of a plant which collectively
constitute its foliage.
Note: Such leaves usually consist of a blade, or lamina,
supported upon a leafstalk or petiole, which, continued
through the blade as the midrib, gives off woody ribs
and veins that support the cellular texture. The
petiole has usually some sort of an appendage on each
side of its base, which is called the stipule. The
green parenchyma of the leaf is covered with a thin
epiderm pierced with closable microscopic openings,
known as stomata.
2. (Bot.) A special organ of vegetation in the form of a
lateral outgrowth from the stem, whether appearing as a
part of the foliage, or as a cotyledon, a scale, a bract,
a spine, or a tendril.
Note: In this view every part of a plant, except the root and
the stem, is either a leaf, or is composed of leaves
more or less modified and transformed.
3. Something which is like a leaf in being wide and thin and
having a flat surface, or in being attached to a larger
body by one edge or end; as:
(a) A part of a book or folded sheet containing two pages
upon its opposite sides.
(b) A side, division, or part, that slides or is hinged,
as of window shutters, folding doors, etc.
(c) The movable side of a table.
(d) A very thin plate; as, gold leaf.
(e) A portion of fat lying in a separate fold or layer.
(f) One of the teeth of a pinion, especially when small.
(Zo["o]l.), any beetle which feeds upon leaves;
esp., any species of the family Chrysomelid[ae]
, as the
potato beetle and helmet beetle.
, a draw-bridge having a platform or leaf which
swings vertically on hinges.
(Bot.), a bud which develops into leaves or a
(Zo["o]l.), any butterfly which, in the form
and colors of its wings, resembles the leaves of plants
upon which it rests; esp., butterflies of the genus
, found in Southern Asia and the East Indies.
(Zo["o]l.), a small moth (Phycis indigenella
), the larva of which feeds upon leaves of the
apple tree, and forms its nest by crumpling and fastening
leaves together in clusters.
, the fat which lies in leaves or layers within the
body of an animal.
(Zo["o]l.), a jumping plant louse of the family
(Zo["o]l.), any tree frog of the genus
.(Bot.) See Chlorophyll
(Zo["o]l.), any small jumping hemipterous
insect of the genus Tettigonia
, and allied genera. They
live upon the leaves and twigs of plants. See Live hopper
(Zo["o]l.), any one of several genera and
species of orthopterous insects, esp. of the genus
, in which the wings, and sometimes the legs,
resemble leaves in color and form. They are common in
Southern Asia and the East Indies.
, lard from leaf fat. See under Lard
(Zo["o]l.), an aphid.
, metal in thin leaves, as gold, silver, or tin.
(Zo["o]l.), any one of various small
lepidopterous and dipterous insects, which, in the larval
stages, burrow in and eat the parenchyma of leaves; as,
the pear-tree leaf miner (Lithocolletis geminatella
(Zo["o]l.), a pale bluish green beetle
), which, in Florida, eats the edges
of the leaves of orange trees.
(Zo["o]l.), See leaf roller
(Bot.), the cicatrix on a stem whence a leaf has
(Zo["o]l.), a tortricid moth, whose caterpillar
makes a nest by rolling up a leaf and fastening the edges
together with silk, as if sewn; esp., Phoxopteris nubeculana
, which feeds upon the apple tree.
, a hinged sight on a firearm, which can be
raised or folded down.
(Bot.), one or more fibrovascular bundles, which
may be traced down an endogenous stem from the base of a
(Zo["o]l.), a tortricid moth whose larva makes a
nest by fastening the edges of a leaf together with silk;
esp., Teras cinderella
, found on the apple tree.
, a valve which moves on a hinge.
(Zo["o]l.), a sawfly.
To turn over a new leaf
, to make a radical change for the
better in one's way of living or doing. [Colloq.]
They were both determined to turn over a new leaf.
(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
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.”
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.
God will make these evils the occasion of a greater
good, by turning them to advantage in this world.
When the passage is open, land will be turned most
to cattle; when shut, to sheep. --Sir W.
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.
And David said, O Lord, I pray thee, turn the
counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. --2 Sam. xv.
Impatience turns an ague into a fever. --Jer.
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.
7. Hence, to give form to; to shape; to mold; to put in
proper condition; to adapt. “The poet's pen turns them to
His limbs how turned, how broad his shoulders spread
He was perfectly well turned for trade. --Addison.
(a) To translate; to construe; as, to turn the Iliad.
Who turns a Persian tale for half a crown.
(b) To make acid or sour; to ferment; to curdle, etc.: as,
to turn cider or wine; electricity turns milk quickly.
(c) To sicken; to nauseate; as, an emetic turns one's
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.
To be turned of
, be advanced beyond; as, to be turned of
To turn a cold shoulder to
, to treat with neglect or
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
(a) To direct against; as, to turn one's arguments against
(b) 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
To turn aside
, to avert.
To turn away
(a) To dismiss from service; to discard; as, to turn away
(b) To avert; as, to turn away wrath or evil.
To turn back
(a) To give back; to return.
We turn not back the silks upon the merchants,
When we have soiled them. --Shak.
(b) To cause to return or retrace one's steps; hence, to
drive away; to repel. --Shak.
To turn down
(a) To fold or double down.
(b) To turn over so as to conceal the face of; as, to turn
(c) To lower, or reduce in size, by turning a valve,
stopcock, or the like; as, turn down the lights.
To turn in
(a) To fold or double under; as, to turn in the edge of
(b) To direct inwards; as, to turn the toes in when
(c) To contribute; to deliver up; as, he turned in a large
To turn in the mind
, to revolve, ponder, or meditate upon;
-- with about, over, etc. “ Turn these ideas about in
To turn off
(a) To dismiss contemptuously; as, to turn off a sycophant
or a parasite.
(b) To give over; to reduce.
(c) To divert; to deflect; as, to turn off the thoughts
from serious subjects; to turn off a joke.
(d) To accomplish; to perform, as work.
(e) (Mech.) To remove, as a surface, by the process of
turning; to reduce in size by turning.
(f) 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
To turn out
(a) 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.
(b) to put to pasture, as cattle or horses.
(c) To produce, as the result of labor, or any process of
manufacture; to furnish in a completed state.
(d) To reverse, as a pocket, bag, etc., so as to bring the
inside to the outside; hence, to produce.
(e) To cause to cease, or to put out, by turning a
stopcock, valve, or the like; as, to turn out the
To turn over
(a) To change or reverse the position of; to overset; to
overturn; to cause to roll over.
(b) To transfer; as, to turn over business to another
(c) To read or examine, as a book, while, turning the
leaves. “We turned o'er many books together.”
(d) 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
To turn the back upon
, to treat with contempt; to reject or
To turn the corner
, to pass the critical stage; to get by
the worst point; hence, to begin to improve, or to
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
To turn up
(a) To turn so as to bring the bottom side on top; as, to
turn up the trump.
(b) To bring from beneath to the surface, as in plowing,
(c) To give an upward curve to; to tilt; as, to turn up
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