翻箱倒柜

翻箱倒櫃

fānxiāngdǎoguì

idiom #31,321

Meanings

1 to turn the boxes and cupboards upside down
2 to search every corner
3 to ransack one's belongings

Characters

to tip over; to empty

cupboard; cabinet

Examples

为了找那把钥匙，她翻箱倒柜折腾了一下午。

Wèile zhǎo nà bǎ yàoshi, tā fānxiāngdǎoguì zhēteng le yī xiàwǔ.

She spent the whole afternoon ransacking her cupboards looking for that key.

小偷翻箱倒柜，把屋子搞得一片狼藉。

Xiǎotōu fānxiāngdǎoguì, bǎ wūzi gǎo de yīpiàn lángjí.

The burglars turned the place upside down, leaving the house a wreck.

他翻箱倒柜地找出了一本旧相册。

Tā fānxiāngdǎoguì de zhǎochūle yī běn jiù xiàngcè.

After rummaging through everything, he dug out an old photo album.

Tips

history

From Cao Xueqin's Qing novel 《红楼梦》 (ch. 94): "甚至翻箱倒柜，实在没处去找" — they even turned every chest and cupboard inside out, but still couldn't find it. The vivid image of household search has made this one of the most everyday chengyu.

usage

Can describe legitimate searching (looking for lost items) or invasive searching (burglars, authorities, angry parents). Similar chengyu: 东翻西找 (also "search everywhere"), 搜箱倒箧 (formal).

Stroke Order

翻 fān

箱 xiāng

倒 dào

柜 guì