Link Centre Dictionary

collapse

col·lapse

UK/kəˈlɛps/ US/kəˈlæps/ fairly common
verb (7) noun (4)

verb

1.

break down, literally or metaphorically

  • “The wall collapsed”
  • “The business collapsed”
  • “The dam broke”
  • “The roof collapsed”
  • “The wall gave in”
  • “The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice”
Synonyms
2.
3.

fold or close up

  • “fold up your umbrella”
  • “collapse the music stand”
4.

fall apart

  • “the building crimbled after the explosion”
  • “Negociations broke down”
Synonyms
5.

cause to burst

  • “The ice broke the pipe”
Synonyms
6.

make into a print

  • “print the negative”
Synonyms
7.

lose significance, effectiveness, or value

  • “The school system is collapsing”
  • “The stock market collapsed”

noun

1.
2.

a mishap caused by something suddenly falling down or caving in

3.

the act of throwing yourself down

  • “he landed on the bed with a great flop”
Synonyms
4.

a sudden large decline of business or the prices of stocks (especially one that causes additional failures)

Synonyms

Origin

From Latin collāpsus (past participle of collābor).

Phrases

  • batting collapse
  • Bronze Age collapse
  • colony collapse disorder
  • context collapse
  • fantasy collapse
  • gravitational collapse
  • Late Bronze Age collapse
  • model collapse

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.