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)

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