collapse
Americanverb (used without object)
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to fall or cave in; crumble suddenly.
The roof collapsed and buried the crowd.
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to be made so that sections or parts can be folded up, as for convenient storage.
This bridge table collapses.
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to break down; come to nothing; fail.
Despite all their efforts the peace talks collapsed.
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to fall unconscious or as if unconscious or physically depleted, as from a stroke, heart attack, disease, or exhaustion.
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Pathology.
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to sink into extreme weakness.
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(of lungs) to come into an airless state.
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verb (used with object)
noun
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a falling in or together.
Three miners were trapped by the collapse of the tunnel roof.
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a sudden, complete failure; breakdown.
The bribery scandal brought about the complete collapse of his industrial empire.
verb
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(intr) to fall down or cave in suddenly
the whole building collapsed
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(intr) to fail completely
his story collapsed on investigation
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(intr) to break down or fall down from lack of strength
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to fold (furniture, etc) compactly or (of furniture, etc) to be designed to fold compactly
noun
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the act or instance of suddenly falling down, caving in, or crumbling
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a sudden failure or breakdown
Usage
What does collapse mean? Collapse means to break apart suddenly, as in The rickety bridge collapsed into the river. If something collapses, it falls apart or caves in quickly and suddenly. Usually, something collapses because it’s unable to support its own weight. Collapse can also be used figuratively to mean to fail or break down, as in The party quickly collapsed when two groups started fighting with each other. Collapse can also mean to fall unconscious or to pass out, as in The marathon runner collapsed due to heat stroke. Collapse can also be used as a noun in any of these senses, as in She determined that the coins dated back to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Example: I had to rebuild my house of cards after the wobbly table caused it to collapse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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collapsesimple
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collapsessimple
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have collapsedperfect
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has collapsedperfect
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am collapsingprogressive
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are collapsingprogressive
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is collapsingprogressive
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have been collapsingperfect progressive
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has been collapsingperfect progressive
Past
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collapsedsimple
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had collapsedperfect
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was collapsingprogressive
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were collapsingprogressive
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had been collapsingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of collapse
First recorded in 1725–35; from Latin collāpsus “fallen together,” past participle of collābī “to fall down, fall together, fall into ruins,” from col- col- 1 + lābī “to fall, slide, make a mistake”
Explanation
To collapse means to fall over, cave in, or totally crumple. After finding out that the stock market has collapsed and your investments along with it, you'd probably collapse to the ground and sob uncontrollably. From the Latin collapsus, meaning “fall together," comes our English collapse, a word that functions as both noun and verb. Empires collapse after revolutions, and your dog will eventually collapse from exhaustion if he keeps chasing his tail in circles. But if a company falls apart after the boss retires, or you have a total breakdown cramming for exams, that's a kind of collapse, too.
Vocabulary lists containing collapse
The Great Depression and The New Deal
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"A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry
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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:
The day was in the low 70s, and a breeze was coming through our kitchen window; I decided I would not mind standing at the stove long enough to coax the squash toward sweet collapse.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
Relax: Warren Buffett isn’t predicting a stock-market collapse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Fuel prices peaked in April, before falling back when US and Iran agreed to a framework deal to end the conflict in June, but they have risen again since the collapse of peace talks.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
The updated figure comes weeks after the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes struck on June 24, causing nearly 200 buildings to collapse, mostly in the worst-hit coastal state of La Guaira.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
At night he’d collapse into his little droopy tent next to Paul’s.
From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis
Calderas form when an eruption empties such an enormous volume of magma that the ground above the reservoir collapses.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
It isn’t as if she doesn’t have several plans B. And it gives “Techniquely” a winningly informal bouquet, especially when the jokes fall flat and she collapses, mock-groaning, on the cutting board.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Root's unbeaten 76 at Edgbaston kept England in contention, with a 121-run partnership with Liam Dawson coming between collapses of 6-107 and 4-30, while an undefeated 99 in Cardiff anchored England's successful chase.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Staff there lost over $1 billion in the collapse, which took place, like many collapses, in a matter of weeks.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
“I’m going to the powder room. Y’all watch her in case she collapses dead of hunger.”
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
The book is about hedge fund Long Term Capital Management, which collapsed in 1998 with possibly the highest-IQ team ever, including two Nobel Prize winners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The Mail on Sunday follows with a photo of a Spanish solider checking on two migrants collapsed on the beach in Ceuta.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
A period of calm followed a ceasefire, though that collapsed with a return of strikes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
When the skin has collapsed into your palm like a deflated balloon, you lift the box grater and discover an almost implausible amount of ruby pulp underneath it.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
The dust is still settling from the impact of the collapsed building, like fog over the beach.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
The fire broke out on June 17, burning for more than a week and collapsing the 500,000-square-foot facility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
In rehearsal and performance, they develop the capacity to hold another’s reality without collapsing it into their own.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
Decades of UN-backed talks have failed to reunify the divided island, with the last major round of peace talks in Switzerland collapsing in July 2017.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
"Because of their structure, these tetrapod-shaped particles have standoffs and form porous networks instead of collapsing into clumps," said Addae.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
Masonry arches stretched from one side of the street to the other, as if to prevent the walls from collapsing.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
Definitions 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.
