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

But, last year, Khartoum turned down a proposal to set up a naval base controlled by Tehran to avoid alienating the U.S. and Israel, according to Sudanese officials.

From The Wall Street Journal

Bosch was farming the strike and turning down singles and left 18 from the final over, but he skied the second ball from Prasidh Krishna to cover.

From BBC

Still, the company regularly has to turn down more projects, said Chad Buck, Sundt’s president of building.

From The Wall Street Journal

The decision was slammed as "amateurish" by former Ashes-winning captain Michael Vaughan, who added that he was "staggered" that they would turn down the opportunity.

From Barron's

"We haven't been given any reason why it was turned down, but we did appeal it - immediately."

From BBC

Related Words

• dismiss
• rebuff
• refuse
• spurn