phrasal verb · neutral
turn away
UK/tɜːn əˈweɪ/US/tɜrn əˈweɪ/TURN·a·way
to refuse someone entry or help; to cause someone to leave; to turn one's face away
Examples
“The shelter had to turn away several families because it was full.”
“He turned away when he saw the gruesome scene.”
“They were turned away at the border.”
Band 8 sentence
“Because the shelter was at capacity, volunteers sadly had to turn away several families seeking refuge.”
Collocations
- turn away refugees/visitors
- turn away from
Word family
Common mistakes
They turned away the people into the shelter→They turned the people away from the shelter / They were turned away
turn away to him→turn away from him
Say it for a higher band
5send away→6refuse entry→7+turn away
Synonyms
refuse entry
reject
Easily confused
turn down
“They turned down his request for more time.”
send away
“The staff sent away the stray dog.”
refuse entry
“The harbourmaster refused entry to the vessel.”
Related words
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In turn …
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