turn the page

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

an idiom meaning to move past a difficult or completed chapter of one's life and begin a new phase with fresh purpose, drawing on the literal act of turning a page in a book to signal the transition from one narrative moment to the next; to turn the page implies a conscious decision to leave behind what has been — a failure, a loss, a period of pain — without necessarily forgetting it, and to redirect one's attention and energy toward what comes next; the phrase is used in personal contexts to describe emotional recovery and new beginnings, and in political and organisational contexts to signal the end of a period of difficulty or controversy and the intention to chart a new course; it carries a note of agency — the reader is the one who turns the page — suggesting that the transition is chosen rather than merely endured, though the difficulty of actually moving on is often what makes the phrase necessary