turn toward

turn toward (someone or something)

1. To rotate one's head or body in the direction of someone or something. I turned toward the odd noise, but I couldn't see anything there. Please turn toward me when I'm speaking.
2. To cause or force someone or something to veer or rotate in the direction of someone or something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "turn" and "toward." She turned the boat toward shore when the dark storm clouds began to form on the horizon. The teacher turned the child toward the front of the class.
3. To accept or embrace someone or something. I turned toward religion when I was at my lowest, and it ended up saving my life. I've always turned toward fantasy novels when I've needed to escape from the stresses of real life. She turned toward her friends to help her get over the breakup.
4. To cause someone to accept, embrace, or become interested in someone or something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "turn" and "toward." My uncle is always trying to turn me toward God, but I wish he would just accept that my beliefs differ from his. She travels to different schools around the state, trying to turn students toward science and math at as young an age as possible.
See also: toward, turn
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

turn someone or something toward someone or something

to turn someone or something to face someone or something. The nurse turned the old man toward his daughter, who had come to visit him. Ken turned the microphone toward the speaker.
See also: toward, turn
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • turn toward (someone or something)
  • twist around
  • shake (one's) head no
  • (from) top to toe
  • shake one's head
  • shake your head
  • shake (one's) head
  • fruit
  • fruiter
  • odd and curious
References in classic literature
He glared down at the dead panther and then, in a fit of rage, he seized and mauled the body only to drop it in a moment, lower his head, voice a single terrific roar, and turn toward the ape-man.
Tarzan the Untamed
is expanding its workforce development and certificate programs, with a turn toward interdisciplinary training.The New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program Inc.
NJMEP expands training, certification programs
The hurricane is expected to turn toward the north-northwest later Thursday, and could strengthen further over the next day or so, the NHC added.
NHC says Nicole strengthens into hurricane south of Bermuda
Forecasters said Fay likely would turn toward the north and increase in speed Saturday, then turn toward the northeast Sunday, staying well out in the Atlantic.
Subtropical Storm Fay forms south of Bermuda
Cisco's decision to become a member of council comes at a time when greater cooperation and collaboration among all stakeholders within the evolving digital value-chain has begun to take a more aggressive and goal-driven turn toward the future.
Cisco Systems joins Samena Council
Kids frozen foods are taking a turn toward healthy, with Earth's Best Kidz new All-Natural Frozen Fish Nuggets.
Nothing but the best
Times also reports that the Vatican is introducing performance-based pay with bonus incentives as part of its turn toward meritocracy.
Punch the clock
Step 2: Turn your left foot and leg in toward center 75 degrees and your right foot and leg outward 90 degrees to turn toward the right until your entire body faces your right leg as if you just took a giant step forward.
Strike a pose & Breeeeathe: Michelle Keenan asks Asheville's top yogis to teach us their favorite poses
Despite the mufti of Australia's pronouncement that a woman without a hijab is like a piece of raw meat, despite our exporting of fundamentalism and all its misogynist works to Canada, I sense a slight winter solstice turn toward the light.
Happy returns
Drawing upon the author's life as personal testimonial, Secure in Heart discusses how to spot Satan's false securities, and the flaws of being so self-reliant or self-protective as to shut out one's need for God, a condition as spiritually harmful as being so dependent or helpless as to be unable to turn toward or trust God.
Secure in Heart
Seeing the food hospitals serve staff and visitors take a turn toward regional distinctiveness and sustainability is one thing.
Yum, yum ... hospital food: the institutional menu undergoes a green revolution
Something, perhaps a cruel look, held me and made me turn toward the path I had just finished walking.
Do you remember?
Passing the 180-degree position on the downwind leg, just as the H2P started the turn toward final, the HAC realized they hadn't secured the anticollision lights, the normal procedure once the aircraft entered the pattern.
Grampaw Pettibone
While this might have signaled a turn toward the subdued, especially since his mother was nowhere in sight, the artist's distinctive brand of grotesquerie remained apparent in the show's four paintings and four sculptures--the latter consisting of mannequins covered in thick layers of plaster and paint--on show here.
Robert Melee: Andrew Kreps Gallery
Boston Ballet's treasury of 19th-century classics takes a turn toward Britain with its revised staging of The Sleeping Beauty.
Preview: Boston Ballet's Sleeping Beauty