col ‧ lide /kəˈlaɪd/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: collidere , from com- ( ⇨ COM- ) + laedere 'to injure by hitting' ]
1 . to hit something or someone that is moving in a different direction from you ⇨ collision :
A car and a van collided on the motorway.
collide with
I ran around the corner, and almost collided with Mrs Laurence.
Two trains collided head-on (=when they were moving directly towards each other) .
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say run into rather than collide with :
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Her car ran into the back of a truck.
2 . to disagree strongly with a person or group, especially on a particular subject
collide with
The President has again collided with Congress over his budget plans.
3 . if two very different ideas, ways of thinking etc collide, they come together and produce an interesting result:
Istanbul, where East and West collide.
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THESAURUS
▪ crash verb [intransitive and transitive] to hit another vehicle, a tree, the ground etc, with a lot of force, causing a lot of damage:
The plane crashed a kilometre from the runway.
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He was scared I’d crash his car.
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The car crashed into a tree.
▪ hit verb [transitive] to move into something quickly and with force:
He wasn’t paying attention, and almost hit another car.
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The car hit a lamppost.
▪ collide verb [intransitive] if two cars, trains, planes etc collide, they hit each other, especially when they are moving in opposite directions:
The two planes collided in mid-air.
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An express train collided with a freight train in the morning rush hour.
▪ run into something phrasal verb [transitive] to hit a vehicle or object that is directly in front of you, especially because you are not paying attention:
He ran into the car in front while he was talking on his mobile phone.
▪ smash into something phrasal verb [transitive] to crash into something, causing a great amount of damage:
An army helicopter smashed into the side of the mountain.
▪ plough into British English , plow into American English phrasal verb [transitive] to crash into something with a lot of force, especially when your vehicle continues moving afterwards:
The bus went out of control and ploughed into a line of traffic.
▪ ram verb [transitive] to deliberately hit another boat or vehicle very hard, especially when it is not moving:
The ship had been rammed by a submarine.
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The gunmen tried to ram the police car.