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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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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In 2021, he reportedly told some employees that the company faced a “genuine risk of bankruptcy” if it couldn’t ramp up engine production.

From MarketWatch

It terminated its work with Viridos in March 2023, according to documents filed as part of the smaller company’s chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

From The Wall Street Journal

One of the creditors, who has begun bankruptcy proceedings against de Min to try to recover his money, said the situation was "heartbreaking" because they had "trusted someone".

From BBC

Spirit, the low-cost carrier that filed for its second bankruptcy last year, cut several routes earlier this month.

From Los Angeles Times

But credit concerns following a couple of bankruptcies last year and worries about software companies, which are major borrowers in the private markets, have sent investors looking for the exits.

From Barron's

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.