Definition

1. Noun:
   • A legal process for insolvent entities: A formal legal procedure where a person or organization that cannot pay their debts seeks relief from some or all of their obligations, often involving the orderly distribution of assets to creditors.
   • The state of being bankrupt: The condition of financial failure and inability to pay outstanding debts.
   • A complete lack or failure of a non-financial quality: A state of being completely devoid of or having failed in some abstract property, such as morality, ideas, or spirit.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Legal/Financial):
  • The struggling company had to file for bankruptcy to reorganize its debts.
  • Declaring bankruptcy allowed him to get a fresh financial start.
• Noun (Abstract Lack):
  • The politician was accused of moral bankruptcy for his constant lies.
  • The argument was dismissed as intellectual bankruptcy, offering no new ideas.

Advanced Usage

• "to declare/file for bankruptcy": To initiate the formal legal process of bankruptcy.
  • The retailer will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to keep operating while it restructures.
• "to be on the brink/verge of bankruptcy": To be very close to financial collapse.
  • Years of losses brought the firm to the verge of bankruptcy.

Variants and Related Words

• Bankrupt (adj/n/v): As an adjective, meaning insolvent; as a noun, a person declared bankrupt; as a verb, to reduce to bankruptcy.
  • The bankrupt businessman lost his assets. (adj)
  • The court will bankrupt the company if it cannot pay. (v)
• Bankrupt (adj - figurative): Completely lacking a particular good quality.
  • The regime was morally bankrupt.

Synonyms

• Insolvency: The state of being unable to pay debts.
• Failure: Collapse, especially in a financial context.
• Ruin: Financial collapse or destruction.

Related Phrases

• Chapter 7 bankruptcy (n): A form of bankruptcy involving liquidation of assets.
• Chapter 11 bankruptcy (n): A form of bankruptcy allowing reorganization while continuing operations.
• Discharge of debts (n phrase): The legal release from personal liability for specific debts, a potential outcome of bankruptcy.

Noun

1. a legal process intended to insure equality among the creditors of a corporation declared to be insolvent
2. inability to discharge all your debts as they come due
   • the company had to declare bankruptcy
   • fraudulent loans led to the failure of many banks
3. a state of complete lack of some abstract property
   • spiritual bankruptcy
   • moral bankruptcy
   • intellectual bankruptcy