Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (UK Und.) a fight.

1835

Duncombe Dens of London 87: ‘I cannot allow any man to meddle with my wife.’ ‘Say no more,’ said the canny Scot; [...] ‘Well, then,’ says Taffy, ‘let’s have this turn over, and we’ll be friends yet.’ And with this kind of chivalrous feeling, did these two honourable blackguards prepare to maul each other, zealously encouraged by their friends.

2. (UK Und.) a body search.

1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 13/1: We felt pretty sure of a ‘turn over,’ and in that case, there was a sure drag, (three months) for each of us.
1877		Five Years’ Penal Servitude 119: Sometimes a personal ‘turn over’ would be made. Two officers enter a man’s cell; one stands before and the other behind the prisoner, who strips off every rag he wears.

3. (US prison) a transfer between prisons.

1928		J. O’Connor Broadway Racketeers 182: I lost ten pounds ducking pinches on the turn-overs.
1931–4		D. Clemmer Prison Community (1940) 336/1: turnover, n. A transfer to another prison.

4. (US prison) the last night of a sentence.

1949

Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).

5. (UK Und.) a search, e.g. of a vehicle, a prisoner’s cell.

1958		F. Norman Bang To Rights 88: They always do the turn over in the evening between six o’clock and half past seven .
1970		T. Parker Frying-Pan 153: They did a turnover of my cell, everything in it chucked about.
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 205: Turn over A house search or a search in the street of a person or vehicle.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 194/2: turnover n. an extremely thorough cell­ search.