Green’s Dictionary of Slang

cadaver n.

(orig. US) a bankrupt.

a.1909

press cutting in J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 60/1: Three fresh Cadavers. Last week the Crawford Mutual Relief Association, of Ohio, notified the Insurance Commissioner of that State that it was in the throes of dissolution. The day following the Northern Ohio Mutual Relief Association and the Eureka Life surrendered their hungry ghosts.

SE in slang uses

In compounds

cadaver cadet (n.)

a necrophile.

1986–7

Maledicta IX 178: So here is something on necrophiles, or lovers of corpses, cadaver cadets, slab boys, table hoppers, and table toppers.

In exclamations

by my cadaver!

(Cockney) a mild oath.

1906

E. Pugh Spoilers 37: ‘By my cadaver!’ the other made terse reply, ‘if you put your daddlers on her again, I’ll set such a mark on you --’.