potlessadj.
/ˈpɒtləs/, U.S. /ˈpɑtləs/ 1. Without a pot; having or requiring no pots.
ΚΠ
1935 R. H. Lowie Crow Indians iv. 92 Stone-boiling in rawhide containers was called ‘potless boiling’.
1958 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 14 July 8/1 Housewives can look ahead to a potless-panless era.
1988 Herald (Melbourne) (Nexis) 21 Mar. Incredulous visitors gaped at my potless corners and hookless ceilings.
2003 Orange County (Calif.) Register (Nexis) 4 Jan. Get these potless plants in the ground as quickly as you buy them.
2. colloquial (now chiefly British). Having no money, penniless. Cf. pot n.1 11c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > [adjective] > poor > lacking money
to the boneOE
silverlessc1325
pennilessc1330
moneylessc1400
impecunious1596
crossless1600
penceless1605
unmoneyed1606
coinless1614
emptya1643
out of pocket1679
money-bound1710
broke1716
embarrassed1744
stiver cramped1785
plackless1786
taper1789
poundlessa1794
shillingless1797
unpennied1804
fundless1809
impecuniary1814
hard up1821
soldier-thighed1825
cashless1833
stiverless1839
fly-blown1853
strapped1857
stick1859
tight1859
stone-broke1886
stony1886
oofless1888
stony-broke1890
motherless1906
penny-pinched1918
skinned1924
skint1925
on the beach1935
potless1936
boracic1959
uptight1967
brassic1982
1936 I. Gershwin He hasn't Thing except Me (song) in Lyrics on Several Occasions (1959) 52 Of money he's got less Than someone who's potless.
1961 Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Daily Northwestern 2 Dec. 7/6 Potless poor or drippy rich, the more we hear about the hazards of cigarettes, the more we smoke.
1981 J. Sullivan Only Fools & Horses (1999) I. 1st Ser. Episode 5. 49/2 No, I don't want to leave them potless. I want them to have some money in their pockets, at least enough for us to have a tip.
2004 Racing Post (Nexis) 9 Jan. 10 My experience of casinos has not been happy... I have normally been..drunk and completely potless when I walked out.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1935