upside down

See also: upside-down, upsidedown, and Upside Down

English

A nuthatch upside down.
A woodpecker upside down.

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English up sid doun, an alteration of earlier upsadowne, upsedowne, up-so-doun (“upside down”), equivalent to up +‎ so +‎ down, literally “up as down”.[1]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (careful speech) /ˌʌpsaɪd ˈdaʊn/, (fast speech) /ˌʌpsaɪˈdaʊn/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adverb

upside down (not comparable)

  1. Inverted, so that the top is now at the bottom.
    Antonym: right side up
    The Union flag was flying upside down, a sign of danger.
    • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Five. The End of It.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 153:
      His hands were busy with his garments all this time: turning them inside out, putting them on upside down, tearing them, mislaying them, making them parties to every kind of extravagance.
    • 1937, “A Foggy Day (In London Town)”, Ira Gershwin (lyrics), George Gershwin (music):
      For, suddenly, I saw you there / And through foggy London town / The sun was shining upside down!
  2. In great disorder.
    The thief had turned the room upside down.

Synonyms

Translations

Adjective

upside down (not comparable)

  1. Inverted; turned so that the top is at the bottom.
    The pattern resembled an upside down letter W.
  2. In great disorder.
    • 1901, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr, The lion's whelp: a story of Cromwell's time, page 248:
      The wenches and the men have been on the streets all day, and the kitchen is upside down. You never saw the like.
  3. (finance) Owing more money for something than it is worth; having negative equity.
    He's upside down on his mortgage.
  4. (humorous) Australian.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Proper noun

the upside down

  1. Alternative letter-case form of Upside Down.
    • 2022 September, Scott R. Sheehan, “The President’s Prose: Inside, Outside, Upside Down”, in Music Educators Journal‎[1], volume 109, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 7–10:
      It is in the upside down where we can find many opportunities to grow and learn.
    • 2023 January, Tess Bissell, “Teaching in the Upside Down: What Anti–Critical Race Theory Laws Tell Us About the First Amendment”, in Stanford Law Review‎[2], volume 75, archived from the original on 21 September 2023, page 212:
      it asks courts to step into the reality educators face: the reality of teaching in the upside down.

References

  1. ^ “upside down, adv., n., and adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

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