collapse
Use Collapse in a sentence
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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.
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.
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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; < Latin collāpsus (past participle of collābī to fall, fall in ruins), equivalent to col- col-1 + lāp-, variant stem of lābī to fall + -sus, variant of -tus past participle ending
1725–35; < Latin collāpsus (past participle of collābī to fall, fall in ruins), equivalent to col- col-1 + lāp-, variant stem of lābī to fall + -sus, variant of -tus past participle ending
Related forms
pre·col·lapse, verb, pre·col·lapsed, pre·col·laps·ing.
un·col·lapsed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To collapse
Collins
World English Dictionary
collapse (kəˈlæps) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (intr) to fall down or cave in suddenly: the whole building collapsed |
| 2. | (intr) to fail completely: his story collapsed on investigation |
| 3. | (intr) to break down or fall down from lack of strength |
| 4. | to fold (furniture, etc) compactly or (of furniture, etc) to be designed to fold compactly |
| —n | |
| 5. | the act or instance of suddenly falling down, caving in, or crumbling |
| 6. | a sudden failure or breakdown |
| [C18: from Latin collāpsus, from collābī to fall in ruins, from lābī to fall] | |
| col'lapsible | |
| —adj | |
| col'lapsable | |
| —adj | |
| collapsi'bility | |
| —n | |
| collapsability | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
collapse col·lapse (kə-lāps')
v. col·lapsed, col·laps·ing, col·laps·es
To break down suddenly in strength or health and thereby fall into a condition of extreme prostration.
To fall together or inward suddenly.
A condition of extreme prostration.
A falling together of the walls of a structure.
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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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
It had begun to fall, and where a thicket of brambles obscured the collapse, the cows found a place to cross.
Most of the concern has centered on honeybees and the problem now known as colony collapse.
When the infection works its way down to the bone, the structure holding the tooth in begins to collapse altogether.
The more cycles, the more chance of resonance, and the more chance of collapse.
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