turning point

American  

noun

1. a point at which a decisive change takes place; critical point; crisis.

2. a point at which something changes direction, especially a high or low point on a graph.

3. Surveying. a point temporarily located and marked in order to establish the elevation or position of a surveying instrument at a new station.

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turning point British  

noun

1. a moment when the course of events is changed

   the turning point of his career

2. a point at which there is a change in direction or motion

3. maths a stationary point at which the first derivative of a function changes sign, so that typically its graph does not cross a horizontal tangent

4. surveying a point to which a foresight and a backsight are taken in levelling; change point

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Etymology

Origin of turning point

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

A longtime critic, she believes this war may be a "turning point" for Hezbollah, whose military activities were outlawed by the government last week.

From Barron's

The big turning point — all that talk I had hoped for when I first saw the photo — had come, all right.

From Literature

At a certain point, most of us reach a quiet turning point — not a grand health kick, exactly, just a gentle desire to feel like ourselves again.

From Salon

Architecture critics, who like to put the chapel in a historical context, regard it as a turning point in the discipline—its fanciful use of concrete anticipates Brutalism and its unusual shapes herald Post-Modernism.

From The Wall Street Journal

“DYNF does not depend on predicting or ‘timing’ discrete market turning points but instead tilts toward factors exhibiting tailwinds over a three-to-six-month horizon,” the firm wrote in an email in January.

From Barron's

Related Words

• climax
• critical point
• crux
• culmination
• juncture
• twist