turn the tables
Flip the situation
To turn the tables is to reverse a situation, especially to gain advantage over someone who previously had the upper hand: She turned the tables on her critics by winning the championship.
The phrase comes from board games where rotating the table would swap players' positions.
After trailing all game, they turned the tables in the final quarter.
- retaliationPunitive response to injury
- reverseTurn to opposite
- flipQuick turning motion
- poetic justiceFitting outcome matching misdeeds
- underdogPresumed loser beforehand
comeuppance · turn the tide · get back at · switcheroo · counterattack · eye for an eye · boomerang · invert · comeback · upset · snatch victory · last laugh · outmaneuver · beat them at their own game · alter · reciprocate · tit for tat · revenge
- turn phrasesabout face, turn a blind eye, turn over a new leaf, turn the corner, turn of events
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- Old Idiomsbeyond the pale, hue and cry, scot-free, knight in shining armor, eat humble pie
- fairnessfair play, fair shake, fair treatment, fair and square, fair share
- reversalsreverse, undo, revert, flip, invert
- turnsturn, rotate, spin, pivot, twist
turn the tablessubmit
Present for consideration
surrender · capitulate · accept defeat · throw in the towel · wave the white flag
turn the tablesstay the course
Continue despite difficulties
resign oneself · keep one's head down · grin and bear it · endure · weather the storm
turn the tablesstay the course
Continue despite difficulties
hold steady · business as usual · same old same old · tread water · stagnate