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

In hopes of doing that, he’s tried to turn down the outside noise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 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

“You are not going to look at bonds and say, ‘I can earn 5% over here — let me turn down double-digit gains in stocks,’” said Samana at Wells Fargo.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

What changed was that Mourinho felt he could not turn down a return to Chelsea, where he had won consecutive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Eventually, even Mom can’t turn down the offer.

From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya

Related Words

• dismiss
• rebuff
• refuse
• spurn