collision

[ kuh-lizh-uh n ]

/ kəˈlɪʒ ən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR collision ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act of colliding; a coming violently into contact; crash: the collision of two airplanes.

a clash; conflict: a collision of purposes.

Physics. the meeting of particles or of bodies in which each exerts a force upon the other, causing the exchange of energy or momentum.

Nearby words

collinsville, collip, colliquation, colliquative, colliquative necrosis, collision, collision course, collision density, collision diameter, collision insurance, collision zone

Origin of collision

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin collīsiōn- (stem of collīsiō), equivalent to collīs(us) (past participle of collīdere to collide) + -iōn- -ion

Related formscol·li·sion·al, adjectivean·ti·col·li·sion, adjective

Can be confusedcollision collusion

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for collision

Physicians are overwhelmed because we are in the middle of a collision of powerful unrestrained forces.
Why Your Doctor Feels Like a 'Beaten Dog'|Daniela Drake|September 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In November, Kiir dissolved all internal party structures, setting the two men on a collision course.
Before There’s a Genocide: The Slaughter in South Sudan Must Stop|Justine Fleischner, John Prendergast|April 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The train is once again on a collision course with five innocent people.
Would You Kill the Fat Man? And Other Conundrums|Robert Herritt|December 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
From the Colorado train that fell into a creek to the North Carolina collision, see more rail disasters.
The Five Deadliest Train Derailments in U.S. History|The Daily Beast|December 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Collision Low Crossers: A Year Inside the Turbulent World of NFL Football by Nicholas Dawidoff.
This Week’s Hot Reads: Nov. 18, 2013|Thomas Flynn|November 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Within two minutes of the collision every living man was clear of the Dervish mass.
The River War|Winston S. Churchill
Images become blunted by their collision just as do bodies by friction.
Essay on the Creative Imagination|Th. Ribot
Mr. Blair was constantly coming into collision with Mr. Stanton.
Abraham Lincoln|William Eleroy Curtis
This trek would have brought the emigrants into collision with the English settlers who had shortly before entered Mashonaland.
Impressions of South Africa|James Bryce
They come because holiness in the godly and sin in the world have come into collision.
A Lamp to the Path|W. K. Tweedie

British Dictionary definitions for collision

collision

/ (kəˈlɪʒən) /

noun

a violent impact of moving objects; crash

the conflict of opposed ideas, wishes, attitudes, etca collision of interests

physics an event in which two or more bodies or particles come together with a resulting change of direction and, normally, energy

Word Origin for collision

C15: from Late Latin collīsiō from Latin collīdere to collide

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

collision

noun

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Origin of collision

Examples from the Web for collision

British Dictionary definitions for collision

collision

noun

Word Origin for collision