down tools

Language: en

Meaning: (informal,UK,idiomatic)Tostopwork, especially when takingindustrial action.2020January 2, Conrad Landin, “Strife and strikes in post-war Britain”, inRail, page51:But when railway workersdowned toolsalmost a year later, on September 26 1919, Britain was in many ways still a country at war.2023January 22, Heather Stewart, “First industrial action at Amazon UK hopes to strike at firm’s union hostility”, inThe Guardian‎[1]:In Coventry, 300 GMB members plan todown toolsover long hours, bad management and a 50p-an-hour pay rise[.]

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