Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. the highway or street as the home of tramps and the criminal underworld; thus spec. the turf.

1899		J. Flynt Tramping with Tramps 28: ‘The turf’ [...] is low life in general. It winds its way through dark alleys and courts to dives and slums.
1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 466: turf, The road, and by extension the life of a vagabond in general.
1939		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 25 Feb. 17: When the sun searches out every cranny in Harlem [...] [they] will quit work altogether and turn ‘turfmen’.
1971		D. Wells Night People 96: Go out on the turf and talk loud and draw a crowd.
1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 97: His pals had already given away $120,000 of it as ‘tribute’ to the mob chiefs who considered Kennedy Airport their turf.
1996		J. Cameron It Was An Accident 218: This syndicate of bigger criminals was stepping on their turf and taking their crimes.
2000		W. Shaw Westsiders 95: Everyone knows where the turfs are, where their demarcation lines run.

2. (also turfing trade) constr. with the, the occupation of prostitution; thus on the turf

1837–8		‘Slashing Costermonger’ in Cuckold’s Nest 11: My vife, she’s such a taste refined, / All hearts she must be vinning, / For ven the turfing trade is bad, / She gets blunt by cat skinning.
1899		Telluride Jrnl (CO) 8 Apr. 6/4: ‘Her nom de turf was “Chipper Min”’ ‘Her habitation the halls of sin’.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 111: While starting on the beat [game, turf, walk] the inexperienced, up-and-coming choirboys, cowboys [...] wait to be approached.

3. (UK und.) in fig use of turf, the race-course, one’s occupation.

1860

R.S. Surtees Plain or Ringlets? (1926) 57: Jasper’s turf, or rather money-making inclinations, had been fostered [...] by the Ostler’s son, at the Bear and Ragged Staff.

4. the area with which one is familiar and where one is recognized as a regular figure.

1944		D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 16: I wasn’t booted to the inside plays that come up on the turf.
1952		‘Hal Ellson’ Golden Spike 17: I can see us in a big blue Cadillac, the biggest pushers around this turf.
1961		R.A. Norton Through Beatnik Eyeballs 45: It plainly not be possible to give this stud the igg when he going to march the same turf as me.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 39: No sense fooling around. Not on his turf.
1982		J. Ehrlichman Witness to Power 59: I telephoned Tricia [...] and invited her to lunch in the White House mess. I wanted our talk to be on my turf.
1992		V. Headley Yardie 17: On his own turf he would have taken things in hand.
2003		N. Griffiths Stump 114: Not puttin up with that on me own fuckin turf.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] ‘He slings on my turf, he’s open season’.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 143: I decided to recanvass the [...] Monroe house turf.

5. (US Und.) the area controlled by a street or prison gang, e.g. for the purpose of drug sales.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 228/1: Turf, the. The criminal arena; any criminal activity; the underworld.
1953		Kramer & Karr Teen-Age Gangs 4: He had looked forward to drifting pleasantly through the Emerald turf – the term currently used in Brooklyn instead of territory.
1965		C. Brown Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 58: Some of the guys in our gang were scared to go out of our turf and rumble.
1977		(con. 1960s) D. Goines Black Gangster (1991) 27: You guys were fighting over . . . what turfs or blocks each gang ruled.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 147: The .22-caliber rifle that the young man had used to shoot down a sixteen-year-old paperboy making an early morning delivery on the wrong gang turf during wartime.
1997		N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 51: Whose turf are you on.
2000		G.V. Higgins At End of Day (2001) 161: They split off and took the part of your turf you had them working in.
2010		Cape Argus (SA) 19 Feb. 🌐 Embroiled in a turf battle are the Junky Funky Kids (JFK), the Boston Kids and the Corner Boys.
2012		Jamaica Obs. 6 May 🌐 He had a group of dangerous men fighting with him. It was their turf and they knew their turf more than the police did.
2019		D. Winslow Border [ebook] ‘I’m losing turf and money’.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 7: [of a police department] The strip is county turf. The L.A. Sheriff’s caught the squawk.

6. (US Und.) the ground.

1969

‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 60: Keep it [i.e. drugs] in your mitt so you can down it fast to the turf.

7. that area of life, work or other activity in which a person’s authority or influence is recognized.

1966		H.S. Thompson letter 20 July in Proud Highway (1997) 580: The baleful necessity of avoiding the offended cop’s turf for the rest of your natural life.
1978		Observer Mag. 14 May 53: Well, if they ain’t buying, tell them to get the hell off my turf!
1987		(con. 1967) E. Spencer Welcome to Vietnam (1989) 67: Anyone who wants to enter my turf has to call and obtain permission first.
1992		R. Price Clockers 527: Maybe he was selling on someone else’s turf.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 21: Turf — Place where drugs are sold.
2003		C. Stella Charlie Opera 63: Now you’re talking [...] He’s my turf, Lercasi.