I. kəˈlaps verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Latin collapsus, past participle of collabi to collapse, from com- + labi to fall, slide — more at sleep
intransitive verb
1. : to break down completely : fall apart in confused disorganization : crumble into insignificance or nothingness : disintegrate
his case had collapsed in a mass of legal wreckage — Erle Stanley Gardner
a flimsy banking enterprise which collapsed — R.A.Billington
2. : to fall or shrink together abruptly and completely : fall into a jumbled or flattened mass through the force of external pressure : fall in
the sides of a limp empty boat collapse
our interest collapses like a pricked balloon — G.M.Trevelyan
a blood vessel that collapsed
3. : to cave in, fall in, or give way : undergo ruin or destruction by or as if by falling down : become dispersed
its passage ripped away the crown of the arch and immediately the whole bridge collapsed — O.S.Nock
a magnetic field collapsing
4. : to suddenly lose force, significance, effectiveness, or worth
all his annoyance collapsed in a heap — Hamilton Basso
collapsing currencies of unstable countries
5. : to break down in vital energy, stamina, or self-control through exhaustion or disease : lose ability to perform accustomed activities : fall helpless or unconscious
a fireman collapsing from the fumes
several oarsmen collapsing after the hard race
collapsed into tears
6. : to fold down into a more compact shape : close together
a collapsing opera hat
a telescope that collapses
transitive verb
: to cause to collapse
collapse the movement
collapsing an infected lung
the explosion collapsed several buildings
collapse an opera hat
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : a breakdown in vital energy, strength, or stamina : complete sudden enervation : sudden loss of accustomed abilities
the daughter's mental collapse through mounting frustration — Leslie Rees
b. : a state of extreme prostration and physical depression resulting from circulatory failure, great loss of body fluids, or heart disease and occurring terminally in diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, pneumonia — compare shock
c. : an airless state of a lung in whole or in part of spontaneous origin or induced surgically — see atelectasis
d. : an abnormal falling together of the walls of an organ
collapse of blood vessels
2. : the action of collapsing : the act or action of drawing together or permitting or causing a falling together
the cutting of many tent ropes, the collapse of the canvas — Rudyard Kipling
3.
a. : breakdown : sudden failure : disintegration , ruin , destruction
the speedy disruption and eventual collapse of our entire society — Lewis Mumford
the panic … with its attendant collapse of grandiose dreams — American Guide Series: Minnesota
b. : sudden loss of force, value, effect, or significance
the collapse of respect for ancient law and custom — L.S.B.Leakey
to save the pound sterling from collapse — Leon Halden
4. : a defect in wood due to abnormal and irregular shrinkage and resulting in a wrinkled or corrugated appearance of the surface and sometimes also an internal honeycombing
5. : the sum of postbreeding regressive changes in the testes of a seasonal breeding male animal