bankruptcy

What it means

1. countableuncountablebusinessA legally declared or recognized condition of insolvency of a person or organization.

   The company ended up filing for bankruptcy.

   2 more examples

   He declared that these drastic steps would undoubtedly inconvenience a good many people, but the alternative was bankruptcy of the Ulster Transport Authority and the breakdown of public transport services.

   1956 May, “Transport in Ulster”, in Railway Magazine, page 279

   [T]he form of and redress for defamation are, for the most part, gendered. Imputations of bankruptcy, for example, which could have damaged a merchant and thus were actionable for a man, would probably have had little effect if directed toward a woman. In contrast, allegations of whoredom—which, while occasionally leveled at men, were not usually thought to injure male reputations—were overwhelmingly cited by women in the slander suits they brought.

   1994, M. Lindsey Kaplan, Katherine Eggert, ““Good queen, my lord, good queen” - Sexual Slander and the Trials of Female Authority in “The Winter's Tale””, in Renaissance Drama, volume 25, →DOI, page 89 of 89–118

2. countableuncountablecard gamesA rule in Tycoon where if the top player does not get first place that round, they instantly get last place

In a sentence

The company ended up filing for bankruptcy.

Where it comes from

From bankrupt + -cy, replacing earlier bankruptship.