Meaning of Idiom ‘Go For Broke’
To go for broke means to put all of one’s effort or passion into something without worrying about consequences; to take great risks and be willing to wager everything to achieve a certain outcome; to put all of one’s resources into achieving a goal. 1Bengelsdorf, Peter. Idioms in the News – 1,000 Phrases, Real Examples. N.p.: Amz Digital Services, 2012.,2Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms]. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.,3Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
Sentence Examples
“My son always won Monopoly by going for broke without worrying about running out of money. He would buy every property he landed on until we ran out of money paying him rent.”
“He went for broke at the gambling tables and lost everything.”
“Look, it’s time you go for broke and demand a pay raise. Unless you say something, your boss isn’t going to give you more.”
“I’m willing to go for broke to get this business going. Are you?”
“Can we just play cards? – Let’s go, then. $2, $4, $6, just put all the money in. I just wanna see everybody going for broke.” — Into the Wild (2007)
“I’m gonna go for broke. I am madly in love with you.” — Ghost Busters (1984)
“My suicide mission’s been canceled. We’re replacing it with a go-for-broke rescue mission.” — Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Origin
This idiom originated sometime in the early 1900s from Hawaiin pidgin English slang phrase that referred to betting everything on one roll of the dice or a game of craps.
It became popularized after becoming the motto of a Japanese World War II American Army unit, the 42nd Infantry Regiment, as depicted in a 1951 film about the unit.