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turn upside down

Put in disorder, mix or mess up, as in He turned the whole house upside down looking for his checkbook. This metaphoric phrase transfers literally inverting something so that the upper part becomes the lower (or vice versa) to throwing into disorder or confusion. [First half of 1800s]

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RELATED WORDS

invalidate, annul, capsize, reverse, void, nullify, topple, repeal, rescind, comb, forage, poke, scour, rummage, ransack, hunt, look, scan, explore, inspect

Nearby words

  1. turn up like a bad penny,
  2. turn up one's nose,
  3. turn up one's toes,
  4. turn up the heat on,
  5. turn up trumps,
  6. turn-and-bank indicator,
  7. turn-and-slip indicator,
  8. turn-on,
  9. turn-up,
  10. turnabout
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.