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Glite Dictionary
to down tools

to down tools

1 8.1
Workers stop work to protest about pay or conditions
  • phrasal verb
  • Literature
: dejar de trabajar
  • The prisoners reacted furiously and, led by Kimongo arap Misoi, downed tools until the demands placed on them were reduced.

Examples

  • And after a general meeting in Franschoek, hundreds of workers affiliated to Sikhula Sonke downed tools on 13 November in solidarity with the De Doorns strikers, spreading the strike further.

    Blog text (28)

  • That job all the builders just down tools and fucked off.

    The Doll Under the Stairs (2024)

  • Everyone has downed tools and left.

    Academic text (2015)

  • He downed tools and ran to the brook.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Where one employee demanding to only work 10 hours a day rather than 12 would be summarily dismissed, when all the workers in a plant agree that this is a good idea and down tools together, the loss of revenue will get the employers' attention.

    Blog text (11)

  • When the factory workers decided they were not being paid fairly, they all downed tools in protest.

  • The nurses made headlines when they downed tools, demanding better working conditions and higher pay.

  • Feeling undervalued, the construction crew collectively downed tools and walked off the job site.

Synonyms

to strike
vsto down tools
64 3.2

To stop work as a protest to get better pay

stops work as protest without necessarily leaving the workplace
to go on strike
vsto down tools
35 3.2

Stop working as a group to protest for better pay or conditions

stops work as protest but does not imply leaving the site
to walk out
vsto down tools
4 4.1

Stop work and leave a place as a protest by workers

stops work as protest but may not involve physically leaving the place
to strike work
vsto down tools
1 5.7

To stop doing a job to protest for better pay or conditions

describes stopping work as protest without focusing on leaving

Antonyms

to continue
∞ 1.0

To keep doing something without stopping

to resume
272 3.1

To start an activity again after a pause

Surface Forms

down tools infinitive
downed tools past
downed tools past participle
downing tools present participle
down tools third person singular

Morphology

down + tool

The phrase literally evokes putting tools down, so a learner who knows 'down' and 'tool' can plausibly infer the general idea of stopping work. However, the conventionalized use (with 'down' functioning as a verb-like element and the specific sense of industrial action/protest) is not fully predictable from the parts, so it is only partially transparent to B1 learners.

Etymology

Down tools comes from a clear image: workers putting their tools down on the ground and walking away to show they will not work. That's why it means 'to stop working', often as a form of protest.