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.]

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.

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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Since January 2000 and for 72 quarters, the Philippines has not experienced a single period of year-on-year negative quarterly growth, which is great for a 'Three-legged Basket Case.' In fact, most countries would sell their collective souls for that performance.

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At this time around we had often to hear the stigma of basket case from the Western nations.

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Ssangyong suffered under Chinese leadership and turned into a basket case when it packed up and left.

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She added that she felt "completely alone" after leaving the show, saying, "I was a basket case, really.

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INTREPID Jonathan Trappe insists he's no basket case - as he attempts to fly the Atlantic beneath 365 party balloons.

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"The guy was a basket case. I was put out with the drug Demerol for my appendix operation and that was what he was taking every day for years" - Sir Elton John (pictured) on fellow pop star Michael Jackson.

They say

"The organization in the Home Office that used to deal with this - the UKBA (UK Border Agency) - was a basket case," the Labor MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow said.

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He was also branded a "basket case" who was unable to perform, didn't rehearse, refused to sing and needed psychiatric evaluation.

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He plays the unreliable Guy in Nick Fisher's new comedy Basket Case. Nick is thrown together with his dependable ex Miranda, played by Christine Kavanagh, after their faithful old family pet takes a turn for the worse.

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Nick Fisher didn't jump for joy when his male lead Nigel Havers said his first play, Basket Case, was positively Chekovian.

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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.