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collapse - 8 dictionary results
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col⋅lapse

  [kuh-laps] verb, -lapsed, -laps⋅ing, noun
Use collapse in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to fall or cave in; crumble suddenly: The roof collapsed and buried the crowd.
2. to be made so that sections or parts can be folded up, as for convenient storage: This bridge table collapses.
3. to break down; come to nothing; fail: Despite all their efforts the peace talks collapsed.
4. to fall unconscious or as if unconscious or physically depleted, as from a stroke, heart attack, disease, or exhaustion.
5. Pathology.
a. to sink into extreme weakness.
b. (of lungs) to come into an airless state.
–verb (used with object)
6. to cause to collapse: He collapsed the table easily.
–noun
7. a falling in or together: Three miners were trapped by the collapse of the tunnel roof.
8. a sudden, complete failure; breakdown: The bribery scandal brought about the complete collapse of his industrial empire.
Origin:
1725–35; < L collāpsus (ptp. of collābī to fall, fall in ruins), equiv. to col- col- 1 + lāp-, var. s. of lābī to fall + -sus, var. of -tus ptp. ending
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To collapse
col·lapse   (kə-lāps')   
v.   col·lapsed, col·laps·ing, col·laps·es

v.   intr.
  1. To fall down or inward suddenly; cave in.
  2. To break down suddenly in strength or health and thereby cease to function: a monarchy that collapsed.
  3. To fold compactly: chairs that collapse for storage.
v.   tr.
To cause to fold, break down, or fall down or inward.
n.  
  1. The act of falling down or inward, as from loss of supports.
  2. An abrupt failure of function, strength, or health; a breakdown.
  3. An abrupt loss of perceived value or of effect: the collapse of popular respect for the integrity of world leaders.

[Latin collābī, collāps-, to fall together : com-, com- + lābī, to fall.]
col·laps'i·bil'i·ty n., col·laps'a·ble, col·laps'i·ble adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Collapse

Col*lapse"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Collapsed; p. pr. & vb. n. Collapsing] [L. collapsus, p. p. of collabi to collapse; col- + labi to fall, slide. See Lapse.]

1. To fall together suddenly, as the sides of a hollow vessel; to close by falling or shrinking together; to have the sides or parts of (a thing) fall in together, or be crushed in together; as, a flue in the boiler of a steam engine sometimes collapses.

A balloon collapses when the gas escapes from it. --Maunder.

2. To fail suddenly and completely, like something hollow when subject to too much pressure; to undergo a collapse; as, Maximilian's government collapsed soon after the French army left Mexico; many financial projects collapse after attaining some success and importance.

Collapse

Col*lapse"\, n. 1. A falling together suddenly, as of the sides of a hollow vessel.

2. A sudden and complete failure; an utter failure of any kind; a breakdown. [Colloq.]

3. (Med.) Extreme depression or sudden failing of all the vital powers, as the result of disease, injury, or nervous disturbance.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : collapse
Spanish: derrumbarse,
German: zusammenbrechen,
Japanese: 崩壊する
More Translations »

collapse 
1732, from L. collapsus, pp. of collabi "fall together," from com- "together" + labi "to fall, slip." The pp. collapsed is attested from 1609, from L. collapsus, and this seems to have suggested the verb.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1col·lapse
Pronunciation: k&-'laps
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: col·lapsed; col·laps·ing
intransitive senses
1 : to fall or shrink together abruptly and completely : fall into a jumbled or flattened mass through the force of external pressure collapsed>
2 : to break down in vital energy, stamina, or self-control through exhaustion or disease; especially : to fall helpless orunconscious collapse transitive senses
: to cause to collapse <collapsing an infected lung> —col·laps·ibil·i·ty /-"lap-s&-'bil-&t-E/ noun —col·laps·ible /-'lap-s&-b&l/ adjective

Main Entry: 2collapse
Function: noun
1 : a breakdown in vital energy, strength, or stamina : complete sudden enervation collapse through mounting frustration —Leslie Rees>
2 : a state of extreme prostration and physical depression resulting from circulatory failure, great lossof body fluids, or heart disease and occurring terminally in diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, and pneumonia
3 : an airless state of a lung of spontaneous origin or inducedsurgically —see ATELECTASIS
4 : an abnormal falling together of the walls of an organ<collapse of blood vessels>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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collapse col·lapse (kə-lāps')
v. col·lapsed, col·laps·ing, col·laps·es

  1. To break down suddenly in strength or health and thereby fall into a condition of extreme prostration.
  2. To fall together or inward suddenly.
n.
  1. A condition of extreme prostration.
  2. A falling together of the walls of a structure.
  3. The failure of a physical system.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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