着きたきり雀すずめ

expression, noun

owning nothing except the clothes on one's back

Idiomatic expression describing a state of extreme poverty where one possesses only the clothes they are wearing. Often used in the phrase 着たきり雀で (with nothing but the clothes on one's back).

• 彼かれは着きたきり雀すずめで家いえを飛とび出だした。

  He ran away from home with nothing but the clothes on his back.

• 着きたきり雀すずめの状じょう態たいで新あたらしい土と地ちに着ついた。

  I arrived in a new place owning nothing except the clothes on my back.