(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.”
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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.
Browse all slang words starting with D.