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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
translation icon : 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
133 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
28 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
11 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
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
297 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.