down-and-out
without any money, or means of support, or prospects; destitute; penniless.
without physical strength or stamina; disabled; incapacitated.
too physically weakened by repeated defeats to qualify as a competent professional boxer.
Also down-and-outer. a person who is down-and-out.
Origin of down-and-out
1Words Nearby down-and-out
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use down-and-out in a sentence
It is Ma who refuses to abandon the down-and-out Wilson family even though their company may slow the journey west.
The Oscars also like down-and-out characters and misunderstood geniuses, both of which tend to beget low-talkers.
But their impact on their down-and-out political parties may turn out to be nearly identical.
Of course Garrison had been to the dogs during the past year—what down-and-out jockey has not gone there?
Garrison's Finish | W. B. M. FergusonFane spoke up languidly: "It rather looks as though we were the down-and-out delegation at present; doesn't it, Orchil?"
The Younger Set | Robert W. Chambers
I went on down the street feeling almost like a man again and not a down-and-out ex-convict.
Kentucky in American Letters, v. 2 of 2 | John Wilson TownsendHad about as much sympathy for a down-and-out, Steele did, as you'd find milk in a turnip.
Shorty McCabe on the Job | Sewell FordA man's a millionaire to-day and a member of the down-and-out club to-morrow.
Jack and the Check Book | John Kendrick Bangs
British Dictionary definitions for down-and-out
without any means of livelihood; impoverished and, often, socially outcast
a person who is destitute and, often, homeless; a social outcast or derelict
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with 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.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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