verb (used without object),col·lapsed,col·laps·ing.
to fall or cave in; crumble suddenly: The roof collapsed and buried the crowd.
to be made so that sections or parts can be folded up, as for convenient storage: This bridge table collapses.
to break down; come to nothing; fail: Despite all their efforts the peace talks collapsed.
to fall unconscious or as if unconscious or physically depleted, as from a stroke, heart attack, disease, or exhaustion.
Pathology.
to sink into extreme weakness.
(of lungs) to come into an airless state.
verb (used with object),col·lapsed,col·laps·ing.
to cause to collapse: He collapsed the table easily.
noun
a falling in or together: Three miners were trapped by the collapse of the tunnel roof.
a sudden, complete failure; breakdown: The bribery scandal brought about the complete collapse of his industrial empire.
Origin of collapse
1725–35; <Latin collāpsus (past participle of collābī to fall, fall in ruins), equivalent to col-col-1 + lāp-, variant stem of lābī to fall + -sus, variant of -tus past participle ending
Our analysis so far indicates that the answer is yes, provided the spontaneous collapse rate increases with the curvature of spacetime.
Schrödinger’s Cat When Nobody Is Looking - Issue 89: The Dark Side|Daniel Sudarsky|August 26, 2020|Nautilus
The country was already teetering on the edge of economic collapse before the blast.
Sunday Magazine: A World in Need|Daniel Malloy|August 16, 2020|Ozy
There also was the collapse of a fuel tank in the mining city of Norilsk.
Siberian heat wave that caused an oil spill made more likely by climate change|Carolyn Gramling|August 13, 2020|Science News For Students
No matter how bizarre and twisted the universe looked before it contracted, the collapse would efficiently erase a wide range of primordial wrinkles.
Big Bounce Simulations Challenge the Big Bang|Charlie Wood|August 4, 2020|Quanta Magazine
The wave of evictions caused by the coronavirus could swamp even the massive dislocation caused by the collapse of the US housing bubble more than a decade ago.
Trump is making home loans riskier during a housing crisis|Tim Fernholz|July 28, 2020|Quartz
No precautions have been taken to reinforce the ceilings, which could collapse onto the statues.
Florence Preps ‘David’ for the Big One|Barbie Latza Nadeau|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In 1997, an earthquake in Assisi caused the collapse of the main cathedral and killed ten people.
Florence Preps ‘David’ for the Big One|Barbie Latza Nadeau|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A hard look at campus rape statistics, the collapse of The New Republic and the day John Lennon died.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, Dec 8-14, 2014|William Boot|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But to say the capital teeters on the verge of collapse is both melodramatic and misleading.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley|Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This crack races across the walls of her apartment as if the very building itself is about to collapse.