idiom (verb phrase) · neutral
turn the tide
UK/tɜːn ðə taɪd/US/tɜrn ðə taɪd/TURN·the·TIDE
to cause a significant change in the direction of events, especially from bad to good
Examples
“The new strategy turned the tide in the company's favour.”
“A breakthrough in research could turn the tide against the disease.”
“The government measures helped turn the tide for small businesses.”
Band 8 sentence
“The combination of targeted subsidies and training programmes finally turned the tide for the region's failing industries.”
Collocations
- turn the tide in favour of
- helped turn the tide
Word family
Common mistakes
turn the tide on→turn the tide in/of/for (depending on context) — common collocation 'turn the tide in favour of'
turn tide→turn the tide
Say it for a higher band
5change things→6reverse the trend→7+turn the tide
Synonyms
reverse the trend
Easily confused
reverse the trend
“The policy helped reverse the trend of declining sales.”
Related words
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In Success
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