BROKE
What does "BROKE" mean?
Having little or no money; also the past tense of 'break'.
Meanings
- Without money; out of funds. I'm broke until payday, so dinner's at home. informal
- Past tense of 'break': to separate into pieces, or to fail to keep. The wave broke over the bow and soaked the deck.
- Bankrupt or financially ruined (often 'flat broke' or 'go broke'). The company went broke a month after the recall. informal
Did you know?
- The saying 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' was put into print and popular speech by Bert Lance, Jimmy Carter's budget director, in a 1977 issue of Nation's Business.
Word origin
From Old English 'brecan' (to break); 'broke' was once also a past participle, and the 'penniless' sense grew from the image of being financially 'broken'.
Remember it
BROKE = BROKEn without the -N: snap the N off the end and you're left exactly broke.
A little poem
Broke is not always the absence of gold-
sometimes it's just a promise that broke and got old.
couplet
Wordplay
- Why did the piano player go broke? He kept hitting the wrong notes - then the right ones broke the bank.
What it teaches
Being broke is a balance; being broken is a story - don't confuse the two.
Quick facts
What does BROKE mean?
Having little or no money; also the past tense of 'break'.
Is BROKE a valid word?
Yes — BROKE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is BROKE?
BROKE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does BROKE come from?
From Old English 'brecan' (to break); 'broke' was once also a past participle, and the 'penniless' sense grew from the image of being financially 'broken'.
What can BROKE teach us?
Being broke is a balance; being broken is a story - don't confuse the two.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.