Definition of "bankrupt" []

• Law A debtor that, upon voluntary petition or one invoked by the debtor's creditors, is judged legally insolvent. The debtor's remaining property is then administered for the creditors or is distributed among them. (noun)
• A person who is totally lacking in a specified resource or quality: an intellectual bankrupt. (noun)
• Having been legally declared financially insolvent. (adjective)
• Financially ruined; impoverished. (adjective)
• Depleted of valuable qualities or characteristics: a morally and ethically bankrupt politician. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "As this practice was very frequent in Italy, it is said the term bankrupt is derived from the Italian _banco_ rotto, broken bench."
• "Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party which he described as bankrupt of new ideas and unfit to rule."
• ""I think you're misunderstanding the word 'bankrupt,'" Romney replied."