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• down-and-out
  down-and-out

  adjective

  without any money, or means of support, or prospects; destitute; penniless.
• down and out
  down and out

  Lacking funds or prospects; destitute, penniless. For example, After losing his job, car, and home, he was completely down and out. This term probably originated in boxing, where it alludes to the fighter who is knocked down and stays down for a given time, thereby losing the bout. [c. 1900] Also see down for the count.

down-and-out

American  

[doun-uhnd-out, -uhn] / ˈdaʊn əndˈaʊt, -ən /

adjective

1. without any money, or means of support, or prospects; destitute; penniless.

2. without physical strength or stamina; disabled; incapacitated.

3. too physically weakened by repeated defeats to qualify as a competent professional boxer.

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noun

1. Also down-and-outer. a person who is down-and-out.

down-and-out British  

adjective

1. without any means of livelihood; impoverished and, often, socially outcast

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noun

1. a person who is destitute and, often, homeless; a social outcast or derelict

down and out Idioms  

1. Lacking funds or prospects; destitute, penniless. For example, After losing his job, car, and home, he was completely down and out. This term probably originated in boxing, where it alludes to the fighter who is knocked down and stays down for a given time, thereby losing the bout. [c. 1900] Also see down for the count.

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Etymology

Origin of down-and-out

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90