Collapse
[kə'læps]
Definition
(noun.) a natural event caused by something suddenly falling down or caving in; 'the roof is in danger of collapse'; 'the collapse of the old star under its own gravity'.
(noun.) an abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion; 'the commander's prostration demoralized his men'.
(verb.) lose significance, effectiveness, or value; 'The school system is collapsing'; 'The stock market collapsed'.
(verb.) break down, literally or metaphorically; 'The wall collapsed'; 'The business collapsed'; 'The dam broke'; 'The roof collapsed'; 'The wall gave in'; 'The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice'.
(verb.) cause to burst; 'The ice broke the pipe'.
(verb.) fold or close up; 'fold up your umbrella'; 'collapse the music stand'.
Editor: Tess--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To fall together suddenly, as the sides of a hollow vessel; to close by falling or shrinking together; to have the sides or parts of (a thing) fall in together, or be crushed in together; as, a flue in the boiler of a steam engine sometimes collapses.
(v. i.) To fail suddenly and completely, like something hollow when subject to too much pressure; to undergo a collapse; as, Maximilian's government collapsed soon after the French army left Mexico; many financial projects collapse after attaining some success and importance.
(n.) A falling together suddenly, as of the sides of a hollow vessel.
(n.) A sudden and complete failure; an utter failure of any kind; a breakdown.
(n.) Extreme depression or sudden failing of all the vital powers, as the result of disease, injury, or nervous disturbance.
Typed by Lena
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Falling together, falling in (as the sides of a flue).[2]. (Med.) Prostration, exhaustion, extreme depression.
v. n. Fall together, fall in.
Edited by Laurence
Definition
n. a falling away or breaking down: any sudden or complete breakdown or prostration.—v.i. to fall together to contract: to fall or break down: to go to ruin: to lose heart.—adj. Collaps′ible capable of collapsing.
Typed by Elvin
Examples
- And so they produced a moral collapse by not assenting to it. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Upon no part of Europe did the collapse of the idea of a unified Christendom bring more disastrous consequences than to Germany. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- This awful revolution, wrote Gibbon of the Western collapse, may be usefully applied to the useful instruction of the present age. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- It was premature disillusionment that caused the Russian collapse. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Thus all the clocks in the series could be regulated every hour, for the collapse of the clippers pushed the hand forward if it were too late, or thrust it back if it had gained. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- So it was in utter social decay and collapse that the great slave-holding world-ascendancy of the God-C?sars and the rich men of Rome came to an end. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The false bonds are best broken: with their collapse would come a release of social energy into political discussion. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- I gave him a little brandy and left him collapsed in a chair, while I made a most careful examination of the room. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- The revolution collapsed utterly. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The next the whole frame collapsed again, and Holmes had gone as quickly as he had come. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Eventually, in the year 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Hor Vastus turned in the direction indicated by Carthoris, and as his eyes fell upon me he was like to have collapsed from sheer surprise. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a glitter of moisture on his brow. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Four old Michigan Central cars with rotten sills collapsed in the ditch and went all to pieces, distributing figs, raisins, dates, and candies all over the track and the vicinity. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Mr Dolls, collapsing in the drowsiest manner after his late intellectual triumph, replied: 'Threepenn'orth Rum. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- But everywhere now the Hohenzollern and Habsburg forces were collapsing. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- You do not know the South, Mr. Thornton,' she concluded, collapsing into a determined silence, and angry with herself for having said so much. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- One of these is an imitation of the duck's foot, which expands when it strikes the water, and collapses when it is withdrawn. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- For him the world collapses. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- At this point the whole routineer scheme of things collapses, there is a period of convulsion and C?sarean births, and men weary of excitement sink back into a newer routine. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The splendid opening of the story of Islam collapses suddenly into this squalid dispute and bickering of heirs and widows. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- But once you see the state as a provider of civilizing opportunities, his whole objection collapses. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- For once you touch the biographies of human beings, the notion that political beliefs are logically determined collapses like a pricked balloon. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Edited by Darrell