🗓️ Idiom: Turn the Tide (v)
💬 Meaning
- To cause a big change in a situation, especially one that improves it.
- To change a bad situation into a better one.
🧠 Example Sentences
- The new strategy helped turn the tide in the company’s favor.
- We need something that can turn the tide before the project fails completely.
- Hiring a skilled consultant turned the tide for the struggling department.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the natural movement of ocean tides. Just as the sea changes direction, “turning the tide” means reversing the flow of events. Especially in a difficult situation and making it not so difficult.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
The decision to invest in automation helped __________ for the operations team.
Answer
turn the tide
2. Choose the correct meaning of “turn the tide”:
A) To avoid making a decision
B) To make things worse
C) To reverse a situation, often for the better
D) To slow down progress
Answer
C) To reverse a situation, often for the better
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“Their decision improved the situation dramatically.” → Change the sentence using: turn the tide
Answer
Their decision helped turn the tide.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
