basket case

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basket case

n. Slang

One that is in a completely hopeless or useless condition: a man who became a basket case after his divorce; a country that is an economic basket case.

[Originally World War I military slang, soldier who has lost all four limbs.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

basket case

1. a person who is suffering from extreme nervous strain; nervous wreck

2. (Medicine) chiefly taboo US and Canadian a person who has had both arms and both legs amputated

a. someone or something that is incapable of functioning normally

b. (as modifier): a basket-case economy.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bas′ket case`

n.
Slang.

1. one who is incapable of functioning normally, as due to overwhelming stress or anxiety.

2. Older Use. a person who has had all four limbs amputated.

[1915–20]

basket case

- Originally slang denoting a soldier who had lost all four limbs, thus unable to move independently.

See also related terms for limbs.

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References in periodicals archive ?

They assure us we are not the worst and we are not a basket case, and we are working in the right direction."

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The ruling AK Party, expected to comfortably win a third term in the June 12 parliamentary vote, has made Turkey's transformation from a financial basket case to a fast-growing economy on the verge of an investment grade rating a key part of its re-election campaign.