counterturn

[ koun-ter-turn ]

noun

1. a turn in an opposing or contrary direction.
2. an unexpected twist or turn of events in the plot of a story, play, or the like.

Word History and Origins

Origin of counterturn¹

First recorded in 1580–90; counter- + turn

Example Sentences

For, if the action be but one, and that plain, without any counterturn of design or episode, i.e. underplot, how can it be so pleasing as the English, which have both underplot and a turned design, which keeps the audience in expectation of the catastrophe? whereas in the Greek poets we see through the whole design at first.

From Project Gutenberg

To understand the "Pindaric" English ode, we must remember that a few scholars, like Ben Jonson, Congreve and Gray, took peculiar pleasure in reproducing the general effect of the Greek strophic arrangement of "turn," "counterturn" and "pause."

From Project Gutenberg