break the bank

Meaning: To win or spend so much money that a casino or financial institution loses its entire available funds.

Example: “A weekend camping trip won't break the bank.”

Origin: From gambling: a successful player can drain the house's reserves, exhausting the money set aside to cover losses.

More English idioms

break the mold To abandon convention and do something radically new or different.
hoist by one's own petard To be harmed or destroyed by one's own trap or scheme meant to injure someone else.
sleep with the fishes To be dead, with one's body disposed of in the ocean or a large body of water.
on eternal patrol Lost or missing at sea, presumed dead.
all mouth and trousers Full of loud boasting and empty talk, lacking substance or follow-through.
turn on one's heel To suddenly depart or walk away, often in a dramatic or dismissive manner.

Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A 'w/ch/ck' drill that accelerates comically — and nobody really knows the answer.
The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.

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