upside down

American  

adverb

1. with the upper part undermost.

2. in or into complete disorder; topsy-turvy.

   The burglars turned the house upside down.

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upside down British  

adjective

1. (usually postpositive; upside-down when prenominal) turned over completely; inverted

2. informal (upside-down when prenominal) confused; muddled; topsy-turvy

   an upside-down world

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adverb

1. in an inverted fashion

2. in a chaotic or crazy manner

Other Word Forms

• upside-down adjective
• upside-downness noun

Etymology

Origin of upside down

1300–50; re-formation ( upside ) of Middle English upsedoun, earlier up so doun ( up, so ¹, down ¹; sense of so obscure)

Example Sentences

It was the pass that turned a defence inside out and twisted history upside down.

From BBC

Frances had only just arrived at work when she received a phone call that turned her life upside down.

From BBC

With a gymnastics background himself, Malinin already felt comfortable with going upside down.

From Los Angeles Times

In the past month, my world has turned upside down.

From Literature

"It looked like an upside down lemonade bottle with something on top then it sorted of clicked that it was a prosthetic leg," she said.

From BBC