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WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026col•lapse /kəˈlæps/USA pronunciation
v., -lapsed, -laps•ing, n. v.
- to fall or cave in; crumble suddenly: [no object]The bridge collapsed in the earthquake.[~ + object]The weight of the snow collapsed the roof.
- to be made so that sections or parts can be folded up, as for storage:[no object]The baby's playpen collapses easily.
- to fold up (sections) for storage:[~ + object]We collapsed the playpen and stowed it in the car.
- [no object] to break down;
fail utterly: The peace talks have collapsed once again.
- [no object] to fall unconscious or fall down, such as from a heart attack or exhaustion.
- to fall or decline suddenly, as in value:[no object]The market collapsed and investors lost money.
n.
- a falling in, down, or together:[uncountable]trapped by the collapse of a tunnel.
- a sudden, complete failure;
breakdown: [countable]a mental collapse.[uncountable]a system facing collapse at any moment.
col•laps•i•ble, adj.: Collapsible chairs can easily be stored.
col•laps•i•bil•i•ty /kəˌlæpsəˈbɪlɪti/USA pronunciation n. [uncountable]See -laps-.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026col•lapse
(kə laps′),USA pronunciation v., -lapsed, -laps•ing, n. v.i.
- to fall or cave in;
crumble suddenly:The roof collapsed and buried the crowd.
- to be made so that sections or parts can be folded up, as for convenient storage:This bridge table collapses.
- to break down;
come to nothing;
fail:Despite all their efforts the peace talks collapsed.
- to fall unconscious or as if unconscious or physically depleted, as from a stroke, heart attack, disease, or exhaustion.
- Pathology
- to sink into extreme weakness.
- (of lungs) to come into an airless state.
v.t.
- to cause to collapse:He collapsed the table easily.
n.
- a falling in or together:Three miners were trapped by the collapse of the tunnel roof.
- a sudden, complete failure;
breakdown:The bribery scandal brought about the complete collapse of his industrial empire.
- 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
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
collapse /kəˈlæps/ vb - (intransitive) to fall down or cave in suddenly: the whole building collapsed
- (intransitive) to fail completely
- (intransitive) to break down or fall down from lack of strength
- to fold (furniture, etc) compactly or (of furniture, etc) to be designed to fold compactly
n - the act or instance of suddenly falling down, caving in, or crumbling
- a sudden failure or breakdown
Etymology: 18th Century: from Latin collāpsus, from collābī to fall in ruins, from lābī to fallcolˈlapsible, colˈlapsable adj colˌlapsiˈbility, colˌlapsability n
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