[syn: bankrupt, belly-up(p)]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Bankrupt \Bank"rupt\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bankrupted; p. pr. &
vb. n. Bankrupting.]
To make bankrupt; to bring financial ruin upon; to
impoverish.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
bankrupt
adj 1: financially ruined; "a bankrupt company"; "the company
went belly-up" [syn: bankrupt, belly-up(p)]
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]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
117 Moby Thesaurus words for "bankrupt":
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
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
BANKRUPT. A person who has done, or suffered some act to be done, which is
by law declared an act of bankruptcy; in such case he may be declared a
bankrupt.
2. It is proper to notice that there is much difference between a
bankrupt and an insolvent. A man may be a bankrupt, and yet be perfectly
solvent; that is, eventually able to pay all his debts or, he may be
insolvent, and, in consequence of not having done, or suffered, an act of
bankruptcy. He may not be a bankrupt. Again, the bankrupt laws are intended
mainly to secure creditors from waste, extravagance, and mismanagement, by
seizing the property out of the hands of the debtors, and placing it in the
custody of the law; whereas the insolvent laws only relieve a man from
imprisonment for debt after he has assigned his property for the benefit of
his creditors. Both under bankrupt and insolvent laws the debtor is required
to surrender his property, for the benefit of his creditors. Bankrupt laws
discharge the person from imprisonment, and his property, acquired after his
discharge, from all liabilities for his debts insolvent laws simply
discharge the debtor from imprisonment, or liability to be imprisoned, but
his after-acquired property may be taken in satisfaction of his former
debts. 2 Bell, Com. B. 6, part 1, c. 1, p. 162; 3 Am. Jur. 218.