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Showing results for bankruptcy. Search instead for Bankruptcies.
Synonyms

bankruptcy

American  
[bangk-ruhpt-see, -ruhp-see] / ˈbæŋk rʌpt si, -rəp si /

noun

plural

bankruptcies

  1. the state of being or becoming bankrupt.

  2. utter ruin, failure, depletion, or the like.

bankruptcy British  
/ ˈbæŋkrʌptsɪ, -rəptsɪ /

noun

  1. the state, condition, or quality of being or becoming bankrupt

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
bankruptcy Cultural  

  1. Legally declared insolvency, or inability to pay creditors.

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If an individual or a corporation declares bankruptcy, a court will appoint an official to make an inventory of the individual's or corporation's assets and to establish a schedule by which creditors can be partially repaid what is owed them.

An individual who is lacking a specific resource or quality is sometimes said to be bankrupt, as in intellectually bankrupt or morally bankrupt.

Other Word Forms

  • prebankruptcy noun

Etymology

Origin of bankruptcy

First recorded in 1690–1700; bankrupt + -cy

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.