turn down

British  

verb

1. to reduce (the volume or brightness) of (something)

   turn the radio down

2. to reject or refuse

3. to fold down (a collar, sheets on a bed, etc)

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adjective

1. (prenominal) capable of being or designed to be folded or doubled down

turn down Idioms  

1. Fold or double down, as in They always turn down your bed here , or Turn down your collar . [c. 1600]

2. Invert, as in She turned down her cards , or They turn down the glasses in the cupboard . [Mid-1700s]

3. Reject, fail to accept, as in They turned down his proposal , or Joe was turned down at four schools before he was finally accepted . [Late 1800s]

4. Diminish in volume, brightness, or speed. For example, Please turn down the radio; it's too loud , or They turned down the lights and began to dance . [Second half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

turn down

And the way your people turn down the sheets at night: exquisite!

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

The incident that prompted her to quit flying — and turn down more offers to stay aloft — happened in a fixed-wing plane.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Still, Carney had no choice but to turn down Trump's trade deal offer last month, despite the likelihood of retaliation, said Drew Fagan, an expert on Canada-US economic relations at the University of Toronto.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

He said the debt influenced his decision to turn down a higher-paying job offer that would have triggered even steeper loan deductions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

He didn’t turn down the volume and she didn’t say anything else to him; instead she turned to Obinze to continue talking.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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Related Words

• dismiss
• rebuff
• refuse
• spurn

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