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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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

down-and-out down and out

Much to my surprise, Radcliffe more than steps up as a down-and-out documentarian inserted into the life of a disgraced football star grasping for a comeback.

From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026

If the New York Knicks—the most dismal, down-and-out franchise of the past half-century—were going to win their first NBA championship since 1973, it would require a zillion things to break just right.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

"These are a group of elderly down-and-out thieves, they're always broke, they're forever involved in convoluted plans… and they're facing a huge celebrity and they don't even know who she is."

From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2025

Housing space was now just for patients, not simply down-and-out veterans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024

She still shops at the dollar stores in Englewood, her old down-and-out neighborhood.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

People say it is down and out, but it was packed.

From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026

"There were times when people thought we were down and out but we never did," Toone told BBC Sport while eating a slice of celebratory pizza.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2025

And we’re going to do everything we can to help anybody who’s down and out because of this.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2025

Brayden Schenn added a third-period breakaway goal scored off the skate of goalie Joey Daccord, who was down and out and trying to make a “scorpion” save by kicking up his foot.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 14, 2024

I named the small town at the base of the Bighorns, near where the Penrose Trail comes out, or down and out.

From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen