upside down
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See also: upsidedown
English
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Sitta-carolinensis-001.jpg/220px-Sitta-carolinensis-001.jpg)
Alternative forms
[edit]- up so down (14th-16th centuries)
- downside up
Etymology
[edit]Alteration of earlier up so down, from Middle English up-so-doun, upsedowne, upsadowne (“upside down”), equivalent to up + so + down ("up as down").
Pronunciation
[edit]Adverb
[edit]upside down (not comparable)
- Inverted, so that the top is now at the bottom.
- The Union flag was flying upside down, a sign of danger.
- 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!
- In great disorder.
- The thief had turned the room upside down.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- This house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler died.
Synonyms
[edit]- (inverted): bottom-upwards, topsy-turvy
Translations
[edit]inverted
|
in great disorder
|
Adjective
[edit]upside down (not comparable)
- Inverted; turned so that the top is at the bottom.
- The pattern resembled an upside down letter W.
- 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.
- (finance) Owing more money for something than it is worth; having negative equity.
- He's upside down on his mortgage.
Synonyms
[edit]- (having negative equity): underwater
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]inverted
|
having negative equity
in great disorder
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- English adjectives
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