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turn of phrase

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turn of phrase

1. An expression. I understood what she was saying until she used a turn of phrase that I had never heard.

2. An eloquent style of writing or speaking. That writer's turn of phrase has earned him many accolades and awards.

See also: of, phrase, turn

turn of phrase

A particular arrangement of words, as in I'd never heard that turn of phrase before, or An idiom can be described as a turn of phrase. This idiom alludes to the turning or shaping of objects (as on a lathe), a usage dating from the late 1600s.

See also: of, phrase, turn