turn down
Formsturns down, turning down, turned down
- 1To refuse or decline something offered or asked for, or to say no to the person offering or asking.
The bank turned down his loan application twice before finally approving it.
It's hard to turn down a free trip to Paris, even in February.
Similarrefuse, decline, reject, rebuff
Note
The object can be the thing offered or the person offering it: turn down a job, turn down a request for an interview, turn down a suitor. The two words can part, so turn down the offer and turn the offer down are both fine, but a pronoun must go in the middle: turn it down, turn her down. Its opposite is take up, as in taking up an offer.
- 2To lower the volume, heat, light, or other output of something by adjusting a control.
The landlord turned down the thermostat to save on heating bills.
Could you turn down the brightness on your phone? It's blinding me.
Note
The object can be the machine or what it gives out: turn down the television means lower its volume, while turn down the heat lowers a burner or a thermostat. Out of context, turn it down can mean either this or the "refuse" meaning; a radio or a stove in the sentence usually settles which.
- 3To fold or double something down, or to turn or flip it so that it faces downward.
The hotel housekeeper turned down the sheets and left a chocolate on the pillow.
Turn down your collar; it's sticking up in the back.
Similarfold
Practice
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