In or into a sad and helpless condition; supine; down for the count: He lost three jobs, and now he's on his ass/ His hat store went kerflooie, and he's on his ear now(entry form 1950s+, variant 1940s+)
The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D. Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers. Cite This Source
