thumb down
English
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
It rode us all the way to New Orleans
— "Me and Bobby McGee", song written by Kris Kristofferson / Fred Foster, first released 1969.