broken-down valise

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A person who has fallen on hard times

   A person who has fallen on hard times; a has-been.

   • "In the football business there are so many sleazy bums — broken-down valises, I call them — who don't have two quarters to rub together," Bloom said.
   • Adam Schiff: "Abe Mercer. Ten years ago, he was a broken-down valise. Bad divorce, partners suing him, ethics review. If Doc Gooden can rise from the dead, why not Abe Mercer?"
   • Sonny was just a dirty-looking old man, a broken-down old man. A broken-down valise. That's Charlie's words. That's what he'd call a washed-up wiseguy.
2. 2

   Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

   Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see broken down, valise.

   • Wedged into the rumble seat was my broken-down valise with everything I possessed in the world.

The neighborhood