col ‧ li ‧ sion /kəˈlɪʒ ə n/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: collisio , from collidere ; ⇨ ↑ collide ]
1 . an accident in which two or more people or vehicles hit each other while moving in different directions ⇨ collide
collision with
The school bus was involved in a collision with a truck.
Two people were killed in a head-on collision (=between two vehicles that are moving directly towards each other) on highway 218.
2 . a strong disagreement between two people or groups
collision between
a collision between the two countries over fishing rights
3 . be on a collision course
a) to be likely to have serious trouble because your aims are very different from someone else’s:
The two nations are on a collision course that could lead to war.
b) to be moving in a direction in which you will hit something:
an asteroid on a collision course with Earth
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ accident an event in which a vehicle is damaged and often someone is hurt:
Her father died in a car accident.
|
Hugh had an accident on his way to work.
▪ crash a serious accident in which a vehicle hits something else:
Rees-Jones was the only person to survive the crash.
|
a car/plane/train crash
|
He was killed in a plane crash.
▪ collision an accident in which two or more cars, trains etc hit each other:
His car was involved in a collision with a train.
| a head-on collision (=between vehicles that are driving towards each other) :
The actor was killed in a head-on collision while driving his new sports car.
▪ disaster a serious accident involving a train, plane, or boat, in which a lot of people are killed or injured:
It was Britain’s worst air disaster.
▪ wreck American English an accident in which a car or train is badly damaged:
Ben nearly died in a car wreck.
▪ pile-up an accident that involves several cars or trucks:
The pile-up happened in thick fog.
|
There was a 12-car pile-up on the motorway.
▪ fender-bender American English informal , prang British English informal a car accident in which little damage is done:
Atkinson was involved in a fender-bender in the hotel parking lot.
|
At 15, he borrowed his parents’ car and had a prang.