From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
bankrupt
adj : financially ruined; "a bankrupt company"; "the company went
belly-up" [syn: {belly-up(p)}]
n : someone who has insufficient assets to cover their debts
[syn: insolvent]
v : reduce to bankruptcy; "My daughter's fancy wedding is going
to break me!"; "The slump in the financial markets
smashed him" [syn: ruin, break, smash]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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.
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2. Depleted of money; not having the means of meeting
pecuniary liabilities; as, a bankrupt treasury.
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3. Relating to bankrupts and bankruptcy.
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4. Destitute of, or wholly wanting (something once possessed,
or something one should possess). "Bankrupt in gratitude."
--Sheridan.
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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.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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. Law) A trader who secretes himself, or does
certain other acts tending to defraud his creditors.
--Blackstone.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Bankrupt \Bank"rupt\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bankrupted; p. pr. &
vb. n. Bankrupting.]
To make bankrupt; to bring financial ruin upon; to
impoverish.
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