A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

overthrow something

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throw something over —
1
. throw smth. across (from one side
to another): John glanced at the note and threw it over to me.
2. = overthrow something 
1
: The horse took fright, and the car-
riage was thrown over. 3. abandon or renounce smth.: I’ve
decided to throw over the lifestyle I’ve been used to.
overturn • turn over
overturn —turn upside down; fall over: Pollock’s car crashed
into a clump of trees and overturned.
turn over —
1
. = overturn: It was less than a hundred feet
from the crossing when the car turned over and threw out the
two occupants. 2. turn oneself to face the other way: I heard
the clock, but then I turned over and went back to sleep. 3.
(of an activity) continue at a usual or slow speed: After a good
start, the organization is now just turning over, and is in need
of fresh ideas. 4. (of goods) be sold or disposed of: In a grocery
store, milk turns over more rapidly than, say, canned aspara-
gus.
overturn something • turn something over
overturn something —
1
. throw smth. over with violence;
cause smth. to fall over: She overturned the chairs and hurled
the cushions about. 2. (of a law, verdict, etc.) abolish or inval-
idate: Anti-abortion forces have been organizing to overturn
the decision of the Supreme Court.
turn something over —
1
. turn smth. upside down: Mr. Cam-
pion turned over the battered cardboard-backed book….
“Whose is it?” 2. leaf through the pages of a document, etc.:
He turned over the pages with the hopeless air of a connoisseur
examining an objet d’art. 3. (also: turn something over in one’s
mind) mentally review smth.: Going home that night Dr. Ren-
shaw turned over the facts of the case. 4. (sl.) ransack a house,
etc.; steal goods from a place: Half the school is on probation
for turning over a supermarket. 5. (of money or merchandise)
handle in business: Our shop turns over ten thousand dollars
a week, but we only make a few hundred dollars profit.