Down Tools


๐Ÿ—“๏ธ Idiom: Down Tools


๐Ÿ’ฌ Meaning

  • To stop working, often suddenly or in protest.
  • It can also refer more generally to taking a break or finishing work for the day.

๐Ÿง  Example Sentences

  • The workers decided to down tools until their demands were met.
  • Weโ€™ll down tools at 5 PM and pick this up tomorrow.
  • The team downed tools when the server crashed, halting all online activity.

๐Ÿ›๏ธ Origin

This idiom comes from manual labor, where workers would literally put down their tools to stop working. It became especially associated with labor strikes and industrial action in the UK in the 19th and 20th centuries.

๐Ÿ“ Practice Exercises

1. Fill in the blank:

The employees __________ tools in protest over the unsafe conditions.

Answer

downed

2. Choose the correct meaning of โ€œdown toolsโ€:

A) To buy new equipment
B) To stop working, especially due to protest or rest
C) To clean up after a project

Answer

B) To stop working, especially due to protest or rest

3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:

โ€œThey stopped working when the management refused to listen to them.โ€ โ†’ Change the sentence using: down tools

Answer

They downed tools when the management refused to listen to them.


โ„น๏ธ Other Useful Pages

๐Ÿ‘‰ HR and Recruitment Idioms
๐Ÿ‘‰ Business English Idioms List
๐Ÿ‘‰ Student Space
๐Ÿ‘‰ Tutor Toolkit


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *