bankrupt
noun
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Definition of bankrupt
(Entry 1 of 3)
1a : a debtor (such as an individual or an organization) whose property is subject to voluntary or involuntary administration under the bankrupcy laws for the benefit of the debtor's creditors
b : a person who becomes insolvent
2 : a person who is completely lacking in a particular desirable quality or attribute a moral bankrupt
bankrupt
adjectiveDefinition of bankrupt (Entry 2 of 3)
1a : 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
bankrupt
verbDefinition of bankrupt (Entry 3 of 3)
1 : to reduce to bankruptcy
2 : impoverish defections had bankrupted the party of its brainpower
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Synonyms & Antonyms for bankrupt
Synonyms: Adjective
bare, barren, bereft, destitute, devoid, void
Synonyms: Verb
Antonyms: Adjective
filled, flush, fraught, full, replete, rife
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Examples of bankrupt in a Sentence
Noun
As a lawyer, she specialized in working with bankrupts.Adjective
The lawsuit could leave them bankrupt. she's a kind soul, but bankrupt of all common sense, I'm afraidVerb
Several risky deals bankrupted the company. several bad investments bankrupted him
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
After earning $17 million, the men declared the company bankrupt. — Jacob Bernstein, New York Times, "The Great Interview Magazine Caper," 16 June 2018 Tarsila, bankrupt, divorced from de Andrade and increasingly Marxist, would veer into a more politically engaged style. — Jason Farago, New York Times, "She Led Latin American Art in a Bold New Direction," 15 Feb. 2018 Alitalia was officially declared bankrupt in May, when staff rejected a restructuring plan. — Stephen Wilmot, WSJ, "Airline Dealmaking Won’t Cure Europe’s Profit Problem," 2 Aug. 2017 The business, which went bankrupt in previous incarnations in 2005 and 2009, may still find a way to restructure its debt out of court. — Lauren Coleman-lochner, Bloomberg.com, "Winn-Dixie and Tops Owners Are Said to Prepare for Bankruptcy," 17 Feb. 2018 Prior to the label going bankrupt, PolyGram Records purchased 50 percent of Def Jam, and took control of distribution to save the label. — Michael Saponara, Billboard, "A Timeline of the Major Events That Defined Def Jam's Legacy in Hip-Hop," 25 Jan. 2018 By Preston Turegano, Staff writer A new era begins today for the once bankrupt and demoralized San Diego Symphony. — sandiegouniontribune.com, "Record symphony gift," 14 Jan. 2018 The family sold the company in 1968 to Southland Dairy, which went bankrupt in the early 1990s. — Julia Terruso, Philly.com, "Kensington's giant milk bottle gets historic designation," 12 Jan. 2018 Power restoration is at a crawl because the grid collapsed, the utility is bankrupt and the logistics are daunting: Crews and supplies have to come from the mainland, then make their way into rugged interior areas like Utuado. — Washington Post, "Life Without Power," 14 Dec. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Bon-Ton Stores, of which Herberger's was a part; Toys R Us; MC Sports and others are bankrupt. — Donnelle Eller, USA TODAY, "Rural malls hit hard times, leaving shoppers adrift as more stores close," 8 June 2018 New Jersey's attorney general Gurbir Grewal wrote to DeVos, the Times reported, and alleged the agency had ignored requests from the state to work on behalf of students who were defrauded by the now-bankrupt Corinthian Colleges chain. — Juana Summers, CNN, "Betsy DeVos will likely face school shooting questions in Capitol Hill return," 22 May 2018 Kudos: Cumulus Media may be bankrupt, but that hasn’t stopped it from raising dough for others. — Ben Fong-torres, San Francisco Chronicle, "In quest for ‘fresh,’ KGO radio downsizes Owens, cuts Copeland," 31 Jan. 2018 Kluger focused his efforts on younger artists, making the case that taking the cash was not creatively bankrupt but could in fact further their vision. — New York Times, "The Big Business of Becoming Bhad Bhabie," 3 July 2018 At the same time, the century-old taxi industry is struggling, with many taxi companies going bankrupt. — Daniel Sperling, Scientific American, "Can Ride-Hailing Improve Public Transportation Instead of Undercutting It?," 5 July 2018 His chef mascot, Pioneer Pete, soared above 270 stores until the business went bankrupt in 1988. — Chris Nichols, Los Angeles Magazine, "These Vintage L.A. Chicken Joints Have Yet to Kick the Bucket," 26 June 2018 Mr Ortega’s brutality has exposed that bargain as morally bankrupt and politically unstable. — The Economist, "Time is running out for Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega," 9 June 2018 Simmons, which originally owned the San Leandro plant, went bankrupt in 2009 and was purchased by the private equity owners of Serta, which merged the companies. — Wendy Lee, San Francisco Chronicle, "Serta Simmons lays off 150 workers as mattress plant closes," 30 May 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Middleton has said his sisters wanted to liquidate their ownership stakes in the cigar company because of the threat of lawsuits or new regulations that could bankrupt the company, leaving him to take the risk of owning it alone. — Bob Fernandez, Philly.com, "Philly law firm Schnader Harrison, lawyer sued in Middleton brother-sister feud over billions," 26 June 2018 That means that an accident or illness could still bankrupt you. — Liz Weston, latimes.com, "When a Social Security spousal benefit goof is suspected," 17 June 2018 The bankrupted victim in that case later took his own life. — Pauline Repard, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Robber gets 15 years for $1.5M jewel theft, assault in University Town Center," 12 July 2018 Well, first of all, what about the American companies the Chinese have bankrupted, like the American companies that partnered with the Chinese company? — Fox News, "Sen. Rubio on fears China is winning trade war with the US," 23 May 2018 At the end of the day, these lawsuits may bankrupt the Sneads. — Marlena Baldacci And Ralph Ellis, CNN, "Parkland shooting victim's father sues former school resource officer, others," 30 Apr. 2018 That account was created a quarter-century ago so that the agency could build costly new facilities—telescopes, ships, and various types of observatories—without bankrupting its bread-and-butter support for individual investigators. — Jeffrey Mervis, Science | AAAS, "U.S. legislators back larger facilities budget for NSF," 18 June 2018 Few of the bishops had legal backgrounds and, not surprisingly, were terrified that the coming legal claims would bankrupt their dioceses. — James Martin, WSJ, "The Missing Link in Sex-Abuse Reform," 20 May 2018 Both schools succumbed to a narrow interest group vote that led the school boards to illegally overspend and bankrupt their system. — Indystar, Indianapolis Star, "Here's why Indiana schools and their communities won at ballot box, writes Michael Hicks," 20 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bankrupt.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for bankrupt
bankrupt
noun
English Language Learners Definition of bankrupt
(Entry 1 of 3)
: a person, business, etc., that is unable to pay debts
bankrupt
adjectiveEnglish Language Learners Definition of bankrupt (Entry 2 of 3)
: unable to pay debts
—used to say that someone or something completely lacks a good or desired quality
bankrupt
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of bankrupt (Entry 3 of 3)
: to cause (a person, business, etc.) to be unable to pay debts : to make (someone or something) bankrupt
See the full definition for bankrupt in the English Language Learners Dictionary
bankrupt
adjective
\
Kids Definition of bankrupt
(Entry 1 of 3)
: not having enough money to pay debts
bankrupt
verbKids Definition of bankrupt (Entry 2 of 3)
: to cause to not have enough money to pay debts That last risky deal bankrupted the company.
bankrupt
nounKids Definition of bankrupt (Entry 3 of 3)
: a person or business that does not have enough money to pay debts
bankrupt
noun
\
Legal Definition of bankrupt
(Entry 1 of 3)
: a debtor (as an individual or organization) whose property is subject to administration under the bankruptcy laws for the benefit of the debtor's creditors was adjudicated a bankrupt — see also debtor
bankrupt
adjectiveLegal Definition of bankrupt (Entry 2 of 3)
: ruined financially especially : judicially declared a bankrupt the company is bankrupt — compare insolvent
bankrupt
transitive verbLegal Definition of bankrupt (Entry 3 of 3)
: to reduce to bankruptcy was bankrupted by attorney's fees
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