collide
Americanverb (used without object)
-
collides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
collided,
past participle, past
-
colliding
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
collides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
collided,
past participle, past
-
colliding
present participle
verb
-
to crash together with a violent impact
-
to conflict in attitude, opinion, or desire; clash; disagree
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
collidesimple
-
collidessimple
-
have collidedperfect
-
has collidedperfect
-
am collidingprogressive
-
are collidingprogressive
-
is collidingprogressive
-
have been collidingperfect progressive
-
has been collidingperfect progressive
Past
-
collidedsimple
-
had collidedperfect
-
was collidingprogressive
-
were collidingprogressive
-
had been collidingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of collide
1615–25; < Latin collīdere to strike together, equivalent to col- col- 1 + -līdere, combining form of laedere to strike
Explanation
It could be protons bouncing around in a particle accelerator, two cars failing to stop at an intersection, or the priorities of two people with very different goals. When things crash together, they collide. The verb collide has roots in the Latin word collidere, which comes from col- or “together” and laedere, “to strike or damage," like planes that collide in midair. Collide can also describe ideas that clash, such as expectations that collide with reality or radical views that collide with tradition.
Vocabulary lists containing collide
Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer - Introductory
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Force and Motion (Mechanics) - Introductory
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer - Middle School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When these charged particles collide with oxygen and nitrogen, photons of coloured light are emitted - this is the aurora.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
My cars didn’t run any red lights, collide with another car or take off with my suitcase still in the trunk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Dillon Amaya, an oceanographer at North Carolina State University, said the elevated sea levels could collide with other natural phenomena to create problems for coastal communities.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Eventually, it is expected either to break apart or collide with the planet.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
They pulled up in an awkward clump, and while they didn’t actually collide, Gregor felt gratified to see several riders struggling to stay on their bats.
From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins
A maximalist salon collides with a backstage circus dressing room in the Silver Lake apartment of stylist Wendi Weger, whose delightful fusion of art and fashion is behind the Curatorial Dept. in Atwater Village.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
What will happen when a SpaceX rocket collides with the Moon?
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
On another level, though, Pitchford is about what happens when that principle collides with the punishing procedural architecture of modern postconviction review.
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2026
When a large meteor collides with Earth, it produces intense heat that melts surrounding rock.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026
Addie almost collides with her and I do a quick study of the two of them, both tall with big bones and their hair cut short almost the same way.
From "The Misfits" by James Howe
After an Army helicopter and passenger jet collided last year over Washington, killing dozens, air-traffic controllers have directed pilots to make more space for commercial airlines heading toward airports like LaGuardia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
In October 2025, a Metrolink train collided with another train near Union Station, leaving multiple people injured.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
According to this idea, a Mars-sized body called Theia collided with the early Earth.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
Copper prices climbed to fresh records on U.S. and UK exchanges as distortions to trade flows due to concerns over potential U.S. tariffs collided with supply challenges at key mines worldwide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Five hundred years later, when Columbus sailed into the Caribbean, the descendants of the world’s Neolithic Revolutions collided, with overwhelming consequences for all.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
That borrowing is now colliding with tremendous demand from the private sector, much of it from technology companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Fletcher fractured his skull when colliding with concrete barriers next to the pitch at Bath City's ground, and was forced to retire in 2024.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Unlike Earth, the Moon has virtually no atmospheric layer, so space debris does not slow down or burn up before colliding with the surface.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
"When you simulate the Earth and the Moon as colliding bodies with geologic properties, it changes how the Moon forms out of that impact - that's something we considered unnecessary before."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
At lower temperatures, however, when colliding particles have less energy, particle/antiparticle pairs would be produced less quickly—and annihilation would become faster than production.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
