Home UK English upside down

Meaning of upside down in English:

upside down

Pronunciation /ˌʌpsʌɪ(d) ˈdaʊn/

See synonyms for upside down

Translate upside down into Spanish

adverb

  • 1With the upper part where the lower part should be; in or into an inverted position.

    ‘the car rolled and landed upside down’
    • ‘the bar staff put the chairs upside down on the tables’
    • ‘The counters were sparkling, the chairs were all upside-down on the tables, and the floor was swept.’
    • ‘As she remains suspended in the upside-down position, he stations himself beneath her.’
    • ‘Position the sink upside-down on the newly laminated counter top or the plywood base.’
    • ‘I flailed helplessly for a moment as the canoe was turned upside-down and I was plunged face first into the lake beneath it.’
    • ‘Buday was on that train, just adjusting to his upper bunk when his coach left the tracks, coming to rest upside-down at the bottom of an embankment.’
    • ‘In the last year Mr Humphreys has witnessed a car ploughing into a bus at the junction, another car crash and flip upside-down as well as many other smaller accidents.’
    • ‘Apparently someone had hit a slick spot on the road in the very very light drizzle and managed to flip completely upside-down.’
    • ‘Quicker than a flash of light, she flipped the pad upside-down, glaring at him a little.’
    • ‘I asked, looking upside-down and backwards from my position of lying down on the ground.’
    • ‘Take a metal tray that will accommodate the three tins and turn the tins upside-down, creating, in effect, inverted ovens.’
    • ‘He leaned his head over the arm of the chair, and scowled at Knuckles upside-down.’
    • ‘I did, however, earn myself three pounds fifty by turning it upside-down and getting the loose change out of the bottom.’
    • ‘The reversed structure gives visitors the illusion of entering an upside-down room.’
    • ‘Although he wasn't on duty, Phil sprung into action when he was flagged down by motorists after a driver careered off the road and landed upside-down in a river.’
    • ‘They fed on small berries high in the tree, and they were very acrobatic about it, even hanging upside-down to reach the little morsels.’
    • ‘It has a warmer feel, thanks to teal walls, blonde wood and large light fixtures like softly glowing upside-down umbrellas.’
    • ‘The exhibition features a surreal and eccentric collection of creations such as three-spouted teapots and upside-down jugs.’
    • ‘Police were forced to close one lane of the road as firefighters used cutting equipment to free the mother who was trapped upside-down in her seatbelt.’
    • ‘I left the book, open at page 3, upside-down on the side of the bath.’
    • ‘He'd heard of pilots flying out of dense cloud completely upside-down.’
    upturned, upended, bottom up, wrong side up, head over heels, inverted, reversed, overturned, capsized, upset, flipped
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    1. 1.1In or into total disorder or confusion.
      ‘thieves have turned our house upside down’
      • ‘Not for the first time, I reflect on the topsy-turvy, upside-down parallel universe of India.’
      • ‘It was a total disaster and turned upside down the conventional view of Victorian sexuality.’
      • ‘The basis of the past policy behind economic diplomacy is now turned upside down.’
      • ‘Interesting what a meager piece of knowledge could do to flip lives upside-down.’
      • ‘It really sounds weird now, but it is very probable, given the orientation of the upside-down world of business politics today.’
      • ‘I know it'd turn my life upside-down, and I don't know completely how well I'd cope with that - but I'd want to do it.’
      • ‘Two years ago their world was turned upside-down when their son Ben was diagnosed with an optic glioma - a tumour which can cause blindness.’
      in disarray, into disarray, in disorder, into disorder, jumbled up, in a jumble, into a jumble, in a muddle, into a muddle, untidy, disorganized, chaotic, all over the place, in chaos, into chaos, in confusion, into confusion, topsy-turvy, at sixes and sevens
      throw into disarray, throw into disorder, make disorderly, disorder, untidy, make untidy, disorganize, disturb, jumble, mix up, muddle, upset, turn something topsy-turvy
      View synonyms

adjective

  • 1Placed with the upper part where the lower part should be; inverted.

    • ‘an upside-down canoe’
    upturned, upended, bottom up, wrong side up, head over heels, inverted, reversed, overturned, capsized, upset, flipped
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1Totally disordered or confused.
      • ‘an upside-down farm policy’

Origin

Middle English originally up so down, perhaps in the sense ‘up as if down’.