flat broke

flat broke idiom
Also, stone or stony broke. Completely penniless. For example, I can't help you—I'm flat broke, or He's stone broke again. The first term dates from the mid-1800s and uses flat in the sense of “completely” or “downright.” The variant dates from the late 1800s.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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