TURNING POINT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does turning point mean? 

• TURNING POINT (noun)
  The noun TURNING POINT has 2 senses:

1. an event marking a unique or important historical change of course or one on which important developments depend

2. the intersection of two streets

  Familiarity information: TURNING POINT used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TURNING POINT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An event marking a unique or important historical change of course or one on which important developments depend

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

landmark; turning point; watershed

Context example:

the agreement was a watershed in the history of both nations

Hypernyms ("turning point" is a kind of...):

juncture; occasion (an event that occurs at a critical time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "turning point"):

Fall of Man ((Judeo-Christian mythology) when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, God punished them by driving them out of the Garden of Eden and into the world where they would be subject to sickness and pain and eventual death)

road to Damascus (a sudden turning point in a person's life (similar to the sudden conversion of the Apostle Paul on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus of arrest Christians))

Sense 2

Meaning:

The intersection of two streets

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

corner; street corner; turning point

Context example:

standing on the corner watching all the girls go by

Hypernyms ("turning point" is a kind of...):

carrefour; crossing; crossroad; crossway; intersection (a junction where one street or road crosses another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "turning point"):

blind corner (a street corner that you cannot see around as you are driving)

 Context examples 

The victory of the Indians and the annihilation of the ape-men, marked the turning point of our fortunes.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This month, December, marks a big turning point for you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The turning points were 1999-2000, when PGR surged from 0.08% to 0.24% (a threefold increase) and 2005-2006, when PGR jumped from 0.4% to 0.72%.

(Is the Global Crisis Triggering Basic Instincts?, BOGDAN FLORIN PAUL)

Ancient astrologers called this an aspect of dictators,  but happily, January 12 marks a turning point.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The last few years were good in terms of population growth in Italy, with PGR surging to 0.99% in both 2003 and 2004, falling back to 0.49% in 2005 and rising again in 2006-2007, but the turning point was 2002-2003, when official figures increased nine times, surging from 0.06% at 01.01.2002 to 0.57% at 01.01.2003.

(Is the Global Crisis Triggering Basic Instincts?, BOGDAN FLORIN PAUL)