turn upside down

verb

To flip over; to rotate top to bottom.

“Turn the box upside down and look at the bottom.”

Similar
flip overturn over
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbturn upside down (third-person singular simple present turns upside down, present participle turning upside down, simple past and past participle turned upside down)

present singular third person turns upside down · participle present turning upside down · participle past turned upside down · past turned upside down · alternative turn upside-down

  1. intransitivetransitiveTo flip over; to rotate top to bottom.

    Turn the box upside down and look at the bottom.

    Synonyms: flip over, turn over

  2. idiomatictransitiveTo thoroughly examine.

    They turned the house upside down looking for the car keys.

  3. idiomatictransitiveTo alter (something) significantly, often in a negative way.

    Rio Ferdinand will almost certainly miss out on Euro 2004, and possibly much more, because of the missed drug test which has turned his life upside down.

    2003 October 30, Daniel Taylor, “Ferdinand may miss Euro 2004”, in The Guardian

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo flip over; to rotate top to bottom.

Similar
flip overturn over
Also see
fine-tooth combflipspoilupset

Translations

Arabic جَعَلَ عَالِيَ الشَّيْءِ سَافِلَهُ, قَلَبَ
  • جَعَلَ عَالِيَ الشَّيْءِ سَافِلَهُ (jaʕala ʕāliya š-šayʔi sāfilahu)to rotate top to bottom
  • قَلَبَ (qalaba)to rotate top to bottom
  • كَفَأَ (kafaʔa)to rotate top to bottom
Finnish kääntää ylösalaisin
  • kääntää ylösalaisinto thoroughly examine
French renverser
  • renverserto rotate top to bottom
German umdrehen
  • umdrehento rotate top to bottom
Hungarian felfordít, felforgat
  • felfordítto rotate top to bottom
  • felforgatto thoroughly examine
  • tűvé teszto thoroughly examine
  • felforgatto alter significantly, often in a negative way
  • feje tetejére állítto alter significantly, often in a negative way
Korean 뒤집어엎다, 엎다
  • 뒤집어엎다 (dwijibeo'eopda)to rotate top to bottom
  • 엎다 (eopda)to rotate top to bottom
Latin invertō
  • invertōto rotate top to bottom
Polish odwracać do góry nogami, odwrócić do góry nogami
  • odwracać do góry nogamito rotate top to bottom
  • odwrócić do góry nogamito rotate top to bottom
  • przeczesywaćto thoroughly examine
  • przeczesaćto thoroughly examine
  • wywracać do góry nogamito alter significantly, often in a negative way
  • wywrócić do góry nogamito alter significantly, often in a negative way
Spanish dar la vuelta, girar
  • dar la vueltato rotate top to bottom
  • girarto rotate top to bottom
  • voltearto rotate top to bottom
  • trabucarto rotate top to bottom
  • trabucarto alter significantly, often in a negative way
Cite this entry
APA

turn upside down. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turn%20upside%20down

MLA

“turn upside down.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turn%20upside%20down. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “turn upside down,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turn%20upside%20down.

Source: turn upside down on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.