phrasal verb (idiom) · academic
turn on its head
UK/tɜːn ɒn ɪts hed/US/tɜrn ɑn ɪts hɛd/turn ON its HEAD
to completely change or reverse the usual way of thinking about something
Examples
“The new study turns the conventional theory on its head.”
“Her findings turned the accepted model on its head and forced researchers to re-evaluate assumptions.”
“Policy makers must be careful, or short-term fixes could turn long-term plans on their head.”
Band 8 sentence
“This contradictory evidence effectively turns the standard economic model on its head and suggests a radically different mechanism.”
Collocations
- turn something on its head
- turn conventional wisdom on its head
Word family
Common mistakes
turn its head→turn on its head
turn the head on it→turn on its head
Say it for a higher band
5reverse→6overturn→7+turn on its head
Synonyms
overturn
Easily confused
overturn
“The court overturned the previous ruling.”
Related words
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In turn …
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