stone broke

See also: stone-broke

English

Alternative forms

stone-broke

Etymology

From stone (“absolutely, completely”) + broke, probably under the influence of earlier expressions such as hard up.

Adjective

stone broke (not comparable)

(slang) Synonym of broke: without any money.
- 1886, Heinrich Baumann, Londinismen: Slang und Cant, p. 196:
  Stone-broke P... völlig zu Grunde gerichtet.
- 1981, Olivier Bernier, Pleasure & Privilege, Ch. xii, p. 197:
  Naples wasn't exactly short of nobility... Some were stone broke.

Derived terms

stony broke

References

stone broke at OneLook Dictionary Search
“broke, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1888.
“stone, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1917.

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