• У РАЗБИТОГО КОРЫТА остаться, оказаться, сидеть и т. п.; К РАЗБИТОМУ КОРЫТУ вернуться both coll
[PrepP; these forms only; subj-compl with copula (subj: human) or adv; fixed WO]
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⇒ (to be left) with nothing, having lost all one had gained, having had one's hopes in sth. thwarted etc:
- (be left) empty-handed;
- (be left) with zilch;
- [in limited contexts](be) no better off than when one started;
- (be) back to square one;
- (be) (right) back where one started;
- (be) back where one started again.
♦ Денежная реформа разорила его: деньги, которые он копил десять лет, превратились в бумагу, и он остался у разбитого корыта.The monetary reform impoverished him: the money he'd been saving for ten years turned into worthless paper and he was left with nothing.
♦ Думаю, получив срок, Убожко по крайней мере был утешен, что "невеста" осталась у разбитого корыта... (Амальрик 1). I would guess that when Ubozhko was sentenced, he at least felt consoled by the fact that his "ex-wife" was no better off than when she started... (1a).
♦ Вот мы и сидим опять у разбитого корыта, сказал Клеветник (Зиновьев 1). "We're back where we started again," said Slanderer (1a).
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