Turn the other cheek
Turn the other cheek definition
An adaptation of a command of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”; but I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Note: To “turn the other cheek” is thus to accept injuries and not to seek revenge.
turn the other cheek
Respond meekly or mildly to insult or injury without retaliating. For example, There’s no point in arguing with that unreasonable supervisor; just turn the other cheek. This expression comes from the New Testament, in which Jesus tells his followers to love their enemies and offer their other cheek to those who have struck one cheek (Luke 6:29).
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Use for one’s benefit, as in He turned the delay to good account, using the time to finish correspondence. This idiom, first recorded in 1878, uses account in the sense of “a reckoning.”
- Turnup
noun 1. something that is turned up or that turns up. 2. upturn (def 6). 3. British. a cuff on a pair of trousers. 4. Chiefly British. fight; row; disturbance. adjective 5. that is or may be turned up.
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see: turn up , def. 3.
- Turn upside down
Put in disorder, mix or mess up, as in He turned the whole house upside down looking for his checkbook. This metaphoric phrase transfers literally inverting something so that the upper part becomes the lower (or vice versa) to throwing into disorder or confusion. [ First half of 1800s ]