I have heard of men who have gone to law and emerged penniless, stripped by the law and the lawyers.
It is quite possible for an owner of a business, and for his widow and family, today to be left absolutely penniless.
Although the majority have families to go to, there is evidence that some arrive penniless and dispossessed.
The ancient pass laws were of no use in dealing with the increased numbers of homeless and penniless urban poor.
Therefore, these poor women are not entirely penniless.
Men are discharged penniless, and it is weeks and weeks before they get their back pay.
He rented out slum flats to the penniless and jobless, and made thousands of pounds by fraud.
Eyre is a quick-thinking confidence man who, while still a penniless apprentice, manages to trick the master of a foreign ship into selling him his whole cargo on credit.