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

Nearly half of the cases turned down for those offenses were out of the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office, which in the past has aggressively pursued alleged union corruption.

From Salon

"You just need to back off the throttle or turn down the battery and you charge the thing. So no more challenge in the high speed."

From BBC

Researchers say this new gene therapy works more like a precise volume control that turns down only the pain signal while leaving the rest of the brain unaffected.

From Science Daily

I turned down theater tickets at the Shed.

From The Wall Street Journal

After the man approached her in March last year, Kalekye turned down his invitation to meet up.

From BBC

Related Words

• dismiss
• rebuff
• refuse
• spurn