Adjacent Words

Bankrupt definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BANK'RUPT, n. [Eng.rout,defeat. This
may signify bench-broken, or bank-broken; most probably the latter, referring to the fund or stock. The last syllable is the Latin ruptus contracted; Norm.roupt,rous,broken.]
1. A trader who secretes himself, or does certain other acts tending to defraud his creditors.
2. In a less technical sense, a trader who fails or becomes unable to pay his just debts; an insolvent trader. In strictness, no person but a trader can be a bankrupt. Bankruptcy is applied to merchants and traders; insolvency, to other persons.
BANK'RUPT, a. Having committed acts of bankruptcy; unable to pay just debts; insolvent.
BANK'RUPT, v.t. To break one in trade; to make insolvent.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: financially ruined; "a bankrupt company"; "the company went belly-up" [syn: bankrupt, belly-up] n
1: someone who has insufficient assets to cover their debts [syn: bankrupt, insolvent] v
1: reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets smashed him" [syn: bankrupt, ruin, break, smash]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: modification of Middle French & Old Italian; Middle French banqueroute bankruptcy, from Old Italian bancarotta, from banca bank + rotta broken, from Latin rupta, feminine of ruptus, past participle of rumpere to break — more at bank, reave Date: 1533 1. a. a person who has done any of the acts that by law entitle creditors to have his or her estate administered for their benefit b. a person judicially declared subject to having his or her estate administered under the bankrupt laws for the benefit of creditors c. a person who becomes insolvent 2. a person who is completely lacking in a particular desirable quality or attribute <a moral bankrupt> II. adjective Date: 1570 1. a. reduced to a state of financial ruin ; impoverished; specifically legally declared a bankrupt <the company went bankrupt> b. of or relating to bankrupts or bankruptcy <bankrupt laws> 2. a. broken, ruined <a bankrupt professional career> b. exhausted of valuable qualities ; sterile <a bankrupt old culture> c. destitute — used with of or in <bankrupt of all merciful feelings> III. transitive verb Date: 1588 1. to reduce to bankruptcy 2. impoverish <defections had bankrupted the party of its brainpower> Synonyms: see deplete

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj., n., & v. --adj. 1 a insolvent; declared in law unable to pay debts. b undergoing the legal process resulting from this. 2 (often foll. by of) exhausted or drained (of some quality etc.); deficient, lacking. --n. 1 a an insolvent person whose estate is administered and disposed of for the benefit of the creditors. b an insolvent debtor. 2 a person exhausted of or deficient in a certain attribute (a moral bankrupt). --v.tr. make bankrupt. Derivatives: bankruptcy n. (pl. -ies). Etymology: 16th c.: f. It banca rotta broken bench (as BANK(2), L rumpere rupt- break), assim. to L

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bankrupt Bank"rupt, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bankrupted; p. pr. & vb. n. Bankrupting.] To make bankrupt; to bring financial ruin upon; to impoverish.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bankrupt Bank"rupt, a. 1. Being a bankrupt or in a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay, or legally discharged from paying, one's debts; as, a bankrupt merchant. 2. Depleted of money; not having the means of meeting pecuniary liabilities; as, a bankrupt treasury. 3. Relating to bankrupts and bankruptcy. 4. Destitute of, or wholly wanting (something once possessed, or something one should possess). ``Bankrupt in gratitude.'' --Sheridan. Bankrupt law, a law by which the property of a person who is unable or unwilling to pay his debts may be taken and distributed to his creditors, and by which a person who has made a full surrender of his property, and is free from fraud, may be discharged from the legal obligation of his debts. See Insolvent, a.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bankrupt Bank"rupt, n. [F. banqueroute, fr. It. bancarotta bankruptcy; banca bank (fr. OHG. banch, G. bank, bench) + rotta broken, fr. L. ruptus, p. p. of rumpere to break. At Florence, it is said, the bankrupt had his bench ( i.e., money table) broken. See 1st Bank, and Rupture, n.] 1. (Old Eng. Low) A trader who secretes himself, or does certain other acts tending to defraud his creditors. --Blackstone. 2. A trader who becomes unable to pay his debts; an insolvent trader; popularly, any person who is unable to pay his debts; an insolvent person. --M?Culloch. 3. (Law) A person who, in accordance with the terms of a law relating to bankruptcy, has been judicially declared to be unable to meet his liabilities. Note: In England, until the year 1861 none but a ``trader'' could be made a bankrupt; a non-trader failing to meet his liabilities being an ``insolvent''. But this distinction was abolished by the Bankruptcy Act of 1861. The laws of 1841 and 1867 of the United States relating to bankruptcy applied this designation bankrupt to others besides those engaged in trade.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(bankrupts, bankrupting, bankrupted) 1. People or organizations that go bankrupt do not have enough money to pay their debts. (BUSINESS) If the firm cannot sell its products, it will go bankrupt... He was declared bankrupt after failing to pay a £114m loan guarantee. = insolvent ADJ 2. To bankrupt a person or organization means to make them go bankrupt. (BUSINESS) The move to the market nearly bankrupted the firm and its director... VERB: V n 3. A bankrupt is a person who has been declared bankrupt by a court of law. (BUSINESS) N-COUNT 4. If you say that something is bankrupt, you are emphasizing that it lacks any value or worth. He really thinks that European civilisation is morally bankrupt. ADJ [emphasis]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. Insolvent. II. n. Insolvent debtor.

Moby Thesaurus

almsman, almswoman, also-ran, ausgespielt, bankrupt in, bare, bare of, beggar, bereft of, blasted, blighted, break, broke, broken, bust, busted, casual, charity case, denudate, denude, denuded of, deprive, deprived of, desolated, destitute, destitute of, destroyed, devastated, devoid of, dilapidate, dismantle, disrobe, divest, done for, done in, down-and-out, down-and-outer, drain, draw, draw down, dud, empty of, exhaust, failed, failure, fallen, false alarm, finished, flop, fold up, for want of, forlorn of, fortuneless, gone to pot, hardcase, homeless, impair, impoverish, in default of, in receivership, in ruins, in the gutter, in the red, in want of, incapacitate, indigent, insolvent, insolvent debtor, irremediable, kaput, lacking, lame duck, landless, loser, missing, moneyless, needing, on the rocks, out of, out of funds, out of pocket, overthrown, pauper, pauperize, penniless, penniless man, poor devil, poor man, poorling, propertyless, ravaged, reduce, ruin, ruined, ruinous, scant of, scuttle, shipwreck, short, short of, shy, shy of, sink, spoiled, starveling, unblessed with, undone, unpossessed of, use up, void of, wanting, washout, wasted, welfare client, without a sou, wreck, wrecked