thumb down

thumb down (third-person singular simple present thumbs down, present participle thumbing down, simple past and past participle thumbed down)

1. 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.

   • 1969, Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster (lyrics and music), “Me and Bobby McGee”:

     Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained / It rode us all the way to New Orleans'

2. to disapprove or reject

• thumb a lift
• thumb a ride