Queer Street


noun
  1. a condition of financial instability or embarrassment: Such extravagance will surely put them in Queer Street.

Origin of Queer Street

1
First recorded in 1830–40

Words Nearby Queer Street

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Queer Street in a sentence

  • The majority of people would find themselves in Queer Street if they attempted such folly, for folly it is without a doubt.

  • However, Falk is a great-hearted fellow who understands that a man may suddenly find himself in Queer Street.

    The Red Room | August Strindberg
  • Charles said to himself, "I suppose we shall be in Queer Street to-morrow, then;" but he rather liked the idea.

    Ravenshoe | Henry Kingsley
  • I thought you would turn up somewhere in Queer Street, with that infernal old hook nose of yours.

    Ravenshoe | Henry Kingsley
  • It's lucky for you, my man, that nothing is missing, or you would find yourself in Queer Street.

    The Return of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle

British Dictionary definitions for queer street

queer street

noun
  1. (sometimes capitals) informal a difficult situation, such as debt or bankruptcy (in the phrase in queer street)

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