倒悬

倒懸
dàoxuán
  1. lit. to hang upside down
  2. fig. in dire straits

CEDICT

  1. (literary, figurative) to be in dire straits; to be in a precarious position
  2. to be in dire straits; to be in a precarious position
  3. to hang upside down

Wiktionary

缚住人的双足并将之倒挂，使脸部朝下。比喻处境极为艰苦。

重編國語辭典

Entry Composition

1 倒 dào
  1. to invert; to place upside down or frontside back
  2. to pour out
  3. to tip out; to dump
  4. inverted; upside down; reversed
  5. to go backward
  6. contrary to what one might expect; but; yet
2 悬 xuán
  1. to hang or suspend
  2. to worry
  3. public announcement
  4. unresolved
  5. baseless
  6. without foundation

Containing this entry

倒悬之危 dàoxuánzhīwēi
  1. lit. the crisis of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
  2. dire straits
倒悬之急 dàoxuánzhījí
  1. lit. the crisis of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
  2. dire straits
倒悬之苦 dàoxuánzhīkǔ
  1. lit. the pain of being hanged upside down (idiom); fig. extremely critical situation
  2. dire straits
解民倒悬 jiěmíndàoxuán lit. to rescue the people from hanging upside down (idiom, from Mencius); to save the people from dire straits

Related entries

倒挂 dàoguà
  1. lit. to hang upside down
  2. fig. topsy-turvy and inequitable, e.g. manufacturing and trading costs exceed the sale price (of some goods)
  3. to borrow more than one can ever repay