Upside down means with the top at the bottom: turned over. People say it about a picture, a map or a cup that's the wrong way up. Figuratively, turn something upside down means to throw everything into disorder: to make a mess while searching for something, or to change someone's life completely.
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hang/hold/turn + something + upside down; turn + someone's life + upside down; turn + a place + upside down
- The picture in the hallway was hanging upside down, and nobody noticed for a week.
- Moving to another country turned our whole life upside down.
- I turned the flat upside down looking for my passport.
What changed
First versionTom was holding upside down the map, so we got lost.
RevisionTom was holding the map upside down, so we got lost.
Upside down can't go between the verb and its object. In English the object comes straight after the verb, and upside down follows the object: holding the map upside down.
Upside down swaps top and bottom, while inside out swaps the inside and the outside: a jumper on inside out. That's why the eerie mirror world in Stranger Things is called the Upside Down: everything there is turned top to bottom, not inside out.
Your turn
The baby turned the bowl ___ and spilled soup all over the table.
Show the answer
upside down — The bowl flipped over and the soup spilled, so it's upside down. Inside out means with the inside facing outwards: that happens to clothes, not dishes.
Write about an event that changed your life dramatically. Say what happened and when.
Getting a dog in 2023 turned my life upside down: now I wake up at six and walk for an hour every morning.
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