collapse
Americanverb (used without object)
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collapses,
present (3rd person singular)
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collapsed,
past participle, past
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collapsing
present participle
-
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)
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collapses,
present (3rd person singular)
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collapsed,
past participle, past
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collapsing
present participle
noun
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collapses
plural
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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:
Hui's sentencing marks a key moment in the fallout from Evergrande's collapse, which shook China's property sector and hit investors and domestic banks hard.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
"The sector as a whole continues to become more and more on the brink of collapse," he added.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
But amid the crypto collapse in 2022, NFT sales volumes dived and never recovered as investors soured on the assets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Paul Meeks, head of technology research at Freedom Capital Markets, said memory companies have “sterling fundamentals,” but bearish investors “are looking for the ‘inevitable’ collapse in commodity chip pricing.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Then I collapse on the sofa bed and pull Camille’s pillow over my face.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
He anticipates that both will use their mobility to make plays if the pocket collapses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Overnight on Monday into Tuesday, several people several people spent the night outdoors in cities like Pereira and Cali - either due to their homes being destroyed, or fear of further collapses.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
"Human casualties, building collapses, road damage, fires... have been confirmed so far," Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on X, adding there were also "water and power outages".
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 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
She doesn’t wait for an answer; she just collapses into the seat across from mine.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
The earlier trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht collapsed after a jury deadlocked on whether or not he was responsible for the Palisades fire that laid waste to the upmarket coastal enclave and nearby Malibu.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The roughly 2,000-word official obituary credited him with negotiating China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, a deal he clinched in 2001 after years of grinding talks with Washington that at one point nearly collapsed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
It follows Juventus' attempts to sign Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, which has collapsed as Villa close in on signing Parma's Zion Suzuki.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
By July 30, when the fund was forced to negotiate a bailout deal with Citadel, shares in the two semiconductor plays had plunged — Sandisk had collapsed 43% and Micron 24%.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
Peach collapsed into a lump on the hallway floor.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
Cole’s Tyler acts practically while collapsing into a black hole of cynicism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
The governor of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena, told a press conference they were killed in their sleep by collapsing rubble.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Rather than collapsing into an infinite singularity, it reaches a very high but finite density and then reverses direction, expanding outward.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Tattoo artist Andres Hernandez said he was worried about his family and friends, adding that he would stay awake because structures around him were "on the verge of collapsing."
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
The Grootslang’s tail comes up from the deep, under the force field, and breaks through the middle of our ship, collapsing the sails and splitting the deck in half.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
