down tools
(informal, UK, idiom) To stop work, especially when taking industrial action.
Definitions
(informal, UK, idiom) To stop work, especially when taking industrial action.
In Coventry, 300 GMB members plan to down tools over long hours, bad management and a 50p-an-hour pay rise[.]
“AMERICA. 🇺🇸 DOWN TOOLS BEFORE THEY’RE TAKEN AWAY.”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
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Semantically related
- put down72%
To halt, eliminate, stop, or squelch, often by force.
- get down69%
(informal, intransitive) To duck or take cover, usually to avoid harm. Commonly used as a caution or warning in the imperative.
- put down67%
(idiomatic, transitive) To insult, belittle, or demean.
- quieten down67%
(intransitive, British) To reduce intensity of an activity.
- get down67%
(transitive) To swallow (something).