Etymology

go for broke

Today it means: To wager everything. Full definition →

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The story

From Hawaiian Pidgin craps slang, meaning “to wager everything on one roll”: one would be broke, i.e. bankrupt, if one lost. Popularized by the movie Go for Broke! (1951), which is named for the 442nd Infantry Regiment’s unit motto.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.