# broke

Pronunciation: say "BROHK" US /bɹoʊk/, UK /bɹəʊk/

## Verb

1. Past tense of break. — simple past of break
   - Simple: Past tense of break. Use it for the past.
   - _The storm broke several branches off the old oak tree._
   - _He broke the record that had stood for a decade._
5. To act as a broker; to transact business on another's behalf.
   - Simple: To do business deals for someone else as a paid agent.
   - _Merchants would broke for one another whenever new trade routes opened._
   - _He learned to broke for landowners eager to sell their estates._

## Adjective

2. Without any money; penniless. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Having no money left to spend.
   - _He spent his whole paycheck the first week and was broke by Friday._
   - _Students often end up broke by the end of the semester._
3. Financially ruined; bankrupt. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Having lost all your money and unable to pay what you owe.
   - _The airline finally went broke after years of mounting losses._
   - _Several small farms went broke when the harvest failed two seasons running._
4. Reduced in rank, especially through the loss of a military commission.
   - Simple: Lowered in rank by losing your position as an officer.
   - _The broke major appealed the ruling that had cost him his commission._
   - _Once a broke officer, he struggled to find work in civilian life._
7. Rich; wealthy, having come into a large amount of money. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Rich and having lots of money.
   - _Once the royalties rolled in, the whole crew was broke and living large._
   - _They've been broke ever since the business took off, vacationing abroad every month._

## Noun

6. In papermaking, paper or board that is rejected during production and turned back into pulp.
   - Simple: Scrap paper that is collected and turned back into pulp at the mill.
   - _Excess broke from the trimming station is repulped at the end of every shift._
   - _Too much broke in the system can affect the quality of the finished sheet._

## Verb

8. Past participle of break. *(archaic)* — past participle of break
   - Simple: Past participle of break. An old form used in poetry and older writing.
   - _The seal had broke long before the letter ever reached her._
   - _Their old bond was broke by the long years of silence._
11. To act as a procurer in matters of love; to pimp. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To find customers for someone who sells sex.

## Adjective

9. Broken; no longer whole or in working order. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Damaged and no longer whole or working.
   - _He drank from a broke cup with a missing handle._
   - _The old clock sat broke on the mantel for years._

## Noun

10. A fragment or piece broken off; the remains of something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A small piece that has broken off something larger.
   - _Among the ruins lay brokes of painted tile and scorched timber._
   - _Not a single broke of the old vase could be saved._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 8–9** — An ablauted form of "break."
**Meanings 6, 10** — From Middle English "broce," from Old English "gebroc" ("fragment"), from "brecan" ("to break"), related to "broken," the past participle of "break."
**Meanings 5, 11** — A back-formation from "broker."
**Meaning 7** — A clipping of "broke off."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/broke (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).