thumb down
thumb down is the rare form of thumbs down.
Verb
thumb down (third-person singular simple present thumbs down, present participle thumbing down, simple past and past participle thumbed down)
- To get (a passing vehicle) to stop and give one a ride, signalling to the driver by holding out one's thumb (as a hitchhiker).
- I was stranded in the middle of nowhere, but luckily I managed to thumb down a passing car.
- Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained / That rode us all the way in to New Orleans1969, Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster, “Me and Bobby McGee”
- To disapprove or reject.
Meaning of thumbs down
Noun
thumbs down (plural thumbs downs or thumbs down)
- A gesture signifying disapproval; a thumb pointing down out of a fist.
- He shook his head and gave a thumbs down.
- Antonyms:
- thumbs up
- A rejection or refusal.
- We requested permission but got a thumbs down.
- Antonyms:
- thumbs up
Forms of thumb down
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | thumbs down |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | thumbs down |
| present participle | thumbing down |
| past participle | thumbed down |
| past | thumbed down |
Questions about thumb down
- What does thumb down mean?
- Thumb down means to get (a passing vehicle) to stop and give one a ride, signalling to the driver by holding out one's thumb (as a hitchhiker).
- What is thumb down the rare form of?
- Thumb down is the rare form of thumbs down.
- What part of speech is thumb down?
- Thumb down is a verb.
- What is the past tense of thumb down?
- The past tense of thumb down is thumbed down.
Words near thumb down in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: thumb down (page history and authors); thumbs down (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “thumb down.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/thumb_down. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.