BANKRUPTCY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bankruptcy mean? 

• BANKRUPTCY (noun)
  The noun BANKRUPTCY has 3 senses:

1. a state of complete lack of some abstract property

2. inability to discharge all your debts as they come due

3. a legal process intended to insure equality among the creditors of a corporation declared to be insolvent

  Familiarity information: BANKRUPTCY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BANKRUPTCY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of complete lack of some abstract property

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

intellectual bankruptcy

Hypernyms ("bankruptcy" is a kind of...):

failure (lack of success)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Inability to discharge all your debts as they come due

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

bankruptcy; failure

Context example:

fraudulent loans led to the failure of many banks

Hypernyms ("bankruptcy" is a kind of...):

insolvency (the lack of financial resources)

Derivation:

bankrupt (reduce to bankruptcy)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A legal process intended to insure equality among the creditors of a corporation declared to be insolvent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("bankruptcy" is a kind of...):

legal proceeding; proceeding; proceedings ((law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

 Context examples 

The other party might be putting you off while secretly filing for bankruptcy, and if you are not a secured creditor, you may fear you won’t receive all that is due you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

For one of my friends, a senior VP in the media and very savvy, her contractor suddenly declared bankruptcy in the middle of her project after having paid him in full as he required before starting—and he had come with superb references.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)