stone-broke
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of stone-broke
First recorded in 1885–90
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.
But the heroes of “The Beaux’ Stratagem” – two well-mannered but stone-broke gentlemen in search of marriageable heiresses – are far more respectful of the opposite sex than the love-‘em-and-leave-‘em 007 usually is.
From New York Times • Sep. 15, 2015
Betty had fetched up on the rectory doorstep last February, stone-broke and despondent about four divorces and a dead-end acting career.
From Time Magazine Archive
But a stone-broke Evans has lost her home.
From Time Magazine Archive
Well," he said—"I know it was a liberty—I made it out you were no business man, only a stone-broke painter; that half the time you didn't know anything anyway, particularly money and accounts.
From The Wrecker by Stevenson, Robert Louis
Being stone-broke when you go on board doesn't matter if you ship forward; but aft, to start with bare pockets may get you a bad name.
From The Recipe for Diamonds by Hyne, Charles John Cutcliffe Wright
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.
