- Home
- Idioms
- in turn
in turn
in turn
in the appropriate point in the series or order; when one's turn comes. Someone has to wash the dishes after every meal. All of us will have to do it in turn. All three of them shared the task of carrying water in turn.
in turn
1. one after the other She spoke to each of the guests in turn.
2. (slightly formal) as an equal or related effect Yiddish has borrowed words from German, and German has in turn borrowed from Russian. The agency wants to put pressure on local business people, so they, in turn, will put pressure on state officials.
in turn
Also,
in turns. In the proper order or in sequence; also, one at a time. For example,
Each generation in turn must deal with the same budget problems, or
Someone must be awake at all times, so let's sleep in turns. [Late 1500s] Also see
out of turn;
take turns.