Emily Dickinson Lexicon

turn (-ed, -ing, -s), v. [OE < L.]

1. Rotate; revolve; move round; have a circular motion.
2. Return; go back to.
3. Become; convert to; change into; transform as.
4. Avert; revert; deflect; draw back.
5. Go; leave; depart.
6. Come back; be delivered; be able to move towards.
7. Evict; dismiss; push away; forcibly remove.
8. Agonize; writhe; struggle; twist in pain; wrestle in the mind.
9. Spin; whirl; rotate; move like a wheel; cause to move in a circle; [fig.] present; introduce; exhibit; show off.
10. Fold over; mark by creasing.
11. Refer; remind; recollect; persuade; prompt to remember; change the opinion of.
12. Move; shift; [fig.] view; gaze on; look in a mirror at.
13. Adjust; alter the view of; change the position of.
14. Miss; long for; pine after; desire to go back to.
15. Go back to; move back towards; direct steps again to.
16. Change; progress; revolve; move forward in time.
17. Spend time with; seek company of.
18. Gaze; focus; direct attention; shift awareness; look with disapproval.
19. Reply; answer; respond.
20. Reverse; go back; move the other direction.
21. Phrase. “Turn away/turn from”: leave; depart; go from.
22. Phrase. “Turn out”: Expel; exclude; drive away.
23. Phrase. “Turn away”: dismiss; reject; deny access; forbid entrance.
24. Phrase. “Turn to/unto”: accept; take; receive; be in the presence of.
25. Phrase. “Turn out”: avoid; stay away.
26. Phrase. “turn o'er and o'er”: look at carefully; examine by sight repeatedly; study visually for a long time; return the gaze to again and again.

turning, verbal n. [see turn, v.]

Return; [fig.] resurrection; restoration; revival; be alive again.

turnpike, n. [Fr.; see turn, v. and pick, v.]

Passage; highway; detour; roundabout; alternative route; toll road; [fig.] channel; conduit; furrow; riverbed; erosion fret; [metaphor] mental path.

turret, n. [ME > OFr > L. turris.]

Tower; upper room in a castle [fig.] accessory; appendix; addendum; postscript; literary supplement; editorial addition.

turtle, n. [OE turtla, turtle-dove; or Fr. tortue, tortoise.]

1. Turtle-dove; turtle pigeon; Columba Turtur; wild species of bird known for its tender plaintive notes; gallinaceous fowl frequently found in the thickest parts of the woods; symbol of love, devotion, affection, tenderness, romantic fidelity; (see Song of Solomon 2:12).
2. Water tortoise; four-footed slow-moving amphibian that carries a protective shell on its back.

Tuscarora, proper n. [Iroquis, 'hemp-gatherer'.]

American Indian; member of a Native American tribe in North Carolina.

twain, n. [OE.]

1. Two; a dyad; a pair; a couple; [fig.] duet; rhymed couplet.
2. Bisection; two halves; two separate pieces.

twas ('twas), v. [see it, pron., and was, v.; contracted form always preceded by an apostrophe in Dickinson's poems, but we cannot alphabetize words that begin with punctuation.]

It was.

twas'nt ('twas'nt), v. [see it, pron., and was'nt, v.; contracted form always preceded by an apostrophe in Dickinson's poems, but we cannot alphabetize words that begin with punctuation.]

It wasn't; it was not.

twelve, adj. [OE twelf.]

A dozen; ten plus two; six times two.