Goes for broke is an idiom that means to risk everything in a single effort. It is often used to describe someone who takes a big risk in order to achieve a goal, such as investing all of their money in a business venture or making a large bet in a game of chance. The term is derived from the phrase 'breaking the bank, ' which was used in gambling to describe a gambler who had lost all of their money. The crossword solution for this term is 'spends, ' which implies that the person is taking a risk by spending all of their resources in pursuit of a goal.