turn down

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turn down (third-person singular simple present turns down, present participle turning down, simple past and past participle turned down)

1. (idiomatic) To refuse, decline, or deny.

   He turned down all our offers of help.

   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 17:

     A local doctor had bought one canvas and but for that lucky chance he would have been out of pocket. Now he was muttering grumpily at Edmund, "Have to get something better this trip, Edmund. Got to pull up somehow or buyers will be turnin' us down. Sales been gettin' worse and worse these last years."

   • 2022 August 24, Paul Clifton, “Many disabled passengers are excluded from using the route”, in RAIL, number 964, page 29:

     Govia Thameslink Railway declined to comment on the study and turned down our request for an interview to address the issues raised.

2. (idiomatic) To reduce the power, etc. of something by means of a control, such as the volume, heat, or light.

   Turn down the television so I can hear myself think.

   When it starts to boil, turn down the heat to a simmer.

3. (idiomatic) To reposition by turning, flipping, etc. in a downward direction; to double or fold down.

   Turn down the blankets to let them air out.

In all senses the object may appear before or after the particle. If the object is a pronoun, then it must be before the particle.

• (antonym(s) of “refuse”): accept
• (antonym(s) of “reduce power”): turn up

• turn over

• “turn down”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• down-turn, downturn