turn to account
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I now took a strong inclination for poetry, and wrote some little pieces; my brother, supposing it might turn to account, encouraged me, and induced me to compose two occasional ballads.
From Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin; Written by Himself. [Vol. 1 of 2] With His Most Interesting Essays, Letters, and Miscellaneous Writings; Familiar, Moral, Political, Economical, and Philosophical by Benjamin Franklin
It was a fortunate incident for the Frenchmen, who knew they could turn to account the competition which must result from the arrival of two ships.
From Celebrated Travels and Travellers Part III. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century by N. D'Anvers
The time had come to try and turn to account any scapegrace whom one had in one's family.
From The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville by Alexis de Tocqueville
Miss Greta might quite innocently have remembered and retailed enough to Mr. Ernst for him to turn to account.
From The Messenger by Elizabeth Robins
But they inspired nothing that I could turn to account in my lady's album; nothing that could serve to introduce the compliment always expected in the last stanza.
From Pencil Sketches or, Outlines of Character and Manners by Eliza Leslie
