Word.ws English Dictionary

down-and-out

down-and-out is the alternative spelling of down and out.

Meaning of down and out

Adjective

down and out (not comparable)

  1. (idiomatic) In a condition of poverty or debility, especially as a result of experiencing a financial or personal setback.
    • People who are down and out need some place to turn.

See all 2 meanings of down and out

Noun

down-and-out (plural down-and-outs)

  1. Synonym of down-and-outer.
    • So they have trooped forth to organize village down-and-outs and ne'er-do-wells into would-be combat units.1933, The Commonweal, volume 19, page 241
    Synonyms:
    down-and-outer

Synonyms of down-and-out

Forms of down-and-out

pluraldown-and-outs

Questions about down-and-out

What does down-and-out mean?
Down-and-out means synonym of down-and-outer.
What is down-and-out the alternative spelling of?
Down-and-out is the alternative spelling of down and out.
What part of speech is down-and-out?
Down-and-out is a noun.
What is the plural of down-and-out?
The plural of down-and-out is down-and-outs.

Words near down-and-out in the dictionary

  1. down with the dust
  2. down with the kids
  3. Down's
  4. Down's syndrome
  5. down-
  6. down-and-out
  7. down-and-outer
  8. down-and-outers
  9. down-and-outs
  10. down-at-heel
  11. down-at-the-heel

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: down-and-out (page history and authors); down and out (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “down-and-out.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/down-and-out. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.