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turn the tables

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
turn the tables (on someone)
Fig. to cause a reversal in someone's plans; to make one's plans turn back on one. I went to Jane's house to help get ready for a surprise party for Bob. It turned out that the surprise party was for me! Jane really turned the tables on me! Turning the tables like that requires a lot of planning and a lot of secrecy.
See also: table, turn

turn the tables (on somebody/something)
to change a situation so that someone's position is the opposite of what it was She turned the tables by playing a better game and recently has won most of her matches. Hendricks turned the tables on the media when he borrowed a camera from a TV crew and started filming. Dan was always the one in trouble, but now the tables are turned and he's doing very well.
See also: table, turn


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? References in classic literature
If we should turn the tables, some day, thou and I, and go over and see it for ourselves.
the girls have only to turn the tables, and say of one of their own sex, "She is as vain as a man," and they will have perfect reason.
Oh, certainly,' rejoined Nicholas; 'but suppose I were to turn the tables, and pull HIS nose, what then?
 
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