turnout

[ turn-out ]

noun

1. the gathering of persons who come to an exhibition, party, spectacle, or the like:

   They had a large turnout at the meeting.

2. quantity of production; output.
3. an act of turning out.
4. the manner or style in which a person or thing is equipped, dressed, etc.
5. equipment; outfit.
6. a short side track, space, spur, etc., that enables trains, automobiles, etc., to pass one another or park.
7. Ballet. the turning out of the legs from the hips, with the feet back to back or heel to heel.
8. Railroads. a track structure composed of a switch, a frog, and closure rails, permitting a train to leave a given track for a branching or parallel track. Compare crossover ( def 6 ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of turnout¹

First recorded in 1680–90; noun use of verb phrase turn out

Example Sentences

The Christian nationalist turnout machine is much more robust, and it brings huge numbers of extremely reliable voters to the Republican side.

From Salon

Some 3,339 independent community pharmacies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland took part in the unprecedented ballot, which is a turnout of 64%.

From BBC

Throughout the campaign, he pushed conspiracy theories about the election process, claiming at one point that turnout in nursing homes couldn't possibly be correct because many of its residents were near death.

From Salon

Those same numbers are also fuelling conspiracy theories from supporters of Harris, who are wondering where their “missing” voters are - and ignoring the fact that turnouts and preferences frequently shift, often dramatically, between elections.

From BBC

To make up for such issues, many of the most high-profile polls now function more like models, with firms weighting responses from different groups and making other assumptions about factors such as turnout.

From BBC

Related Words

• output
• productivity
• turnover
• volume
• yield