collapse

See also: collapsé and col·lapse

English

Etymology

From Latin collāpsus (past participle of collābor).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /k(ə)ˈlæps/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -æps

Verb

collapse (third-person singular simple present collapses, present participle collapsing, simple past and past participle collapsed)

(intransitive) To break apart and fall down suddenly; to cave in.
- 1843, Samuel Maunder, The Scientific and Literary Treasury
  A balloon collapses when the gas escapes from it.
(intransitive) To cease to function due to a sudden breakdown; to fail suddenly and completely.
Pyramid schemes tend to generate profits for a while and then collapse.
(intransitive) To fold compactly.
(transitive, computing) To hide additional directory (folder) levels below the selected directory (folder) levels. When a folder contains no additional folders, a minus sign (-) appears next to the folder.
(cricket) For several batsmen to get out in quick succession
(transitive) To cause something to collapse.
Hurry up and collapse the tent so we can get moving.
(intransitive) To pass out and fall to the floor or ground, as from exhaustion or other illness; to faint.
The exhausted singer collapsed on stage and had to be taken to the hospital.

Derived terms

collapsible

Translations

to fall down suddenly; to cave in

Albanian: vithisje (sq)
Arabic: اِنْهَار‎ (inhār)
Armenian: փուլ գալ (pʿul gal), խորտակվել (hy) (xortakvel)
Azerbaijani: çökmək (az), dağılmaq (az)
Bulgarian: срутвам се (srutvam se)
Catalan: enfonsar-se (ca), derruir-se
Chinese:
Mandarin: 倒坍 (zh) (dǎotān) (building), 崩潰／崩溃 (zh) (bēngkuì), 崩落 (zh) (bēngluò) (scree slope), 虛脫／虚脱 (zh) (xūtuō) (person - exhaustion, loss of blood, etc.)
Czech: spadnout (cs), zhroutit se
Dutch: instorten (nl)
Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: sortua (fi), romahtaa (fi), luhistua (fi), lyyhistyä (fi); painua kokoon
French: s'effondrer (fr)
Georgian: ჩამონგრევა (čamongreva)
German: einstürzen (de), kollabieren (de), zusammenfallen (de)
Greek: καταρρέω (el) (katarréo), καταπίπτω (el) (katapípto), σωριάζομαι (el) (soriázomai)
Hebrew: התמוטט‎ (hitmotét), קרס‎ (he) (karás)
Italian: collassare (it), crollare (it), accasciarsi
Japanese: 潰える (ja) (ついえる; tsuieru), 崩壊する (ja) (ほうかいする, hōkai suru)
Javanese: ambruk, rubuh (jv)
Kannada: ಕುಸಿ (kn) (kusi)
Khmer: ស្រុត (km) (srot), បាក់គ្រឹប (bak krɨp)
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ڕوخان‎ (ruxan)
Latin: ruō (la)
Malay: rebah, runtuh (ms)
Manx: cohuitt
Maori: ngaeki, tanuku, tūraki
Nepali: भासिनु (bhāsinu), लड्नु (laḍnu), खस्नु (khasnu), भत्कनु (bhatkanu)
Ngazidja Comorian: upuha
Old English: hrēosan
Persian: فرو ربختن‎ (foru-rixtan), رمبیدن‎ (fa) (rombidan)
Polish: bachnąć pf (colloquial), runąć (pl)
Portuguese: desabar (pt), ruir (pt), desmoronar (pt)
Quechua: thuñiy
Romanian: prăbuși (ro)
Russian: разруша́ться (ru) impf (razrušátʹsja), разру́шиться (ru) pf (razrúšitʹsja); обва́ливаться (ru) impf (obválivatʹsja), обвали́ться (ru) pf (obvalítʹsja); оседа́ть (ru) impf (osedátʹ), осе́сть (ru) pf (oséstʹ)
Spanish: derrumbarse (es), desplomarse (es)
Swedish: kollapsa (sv)
Thai: พัง (th) (pang)
Turkish: çökmek (tr)
Vietnamese: đổ (vi), sập (vi)

to cease to function due to a sudden breakdown

Azerbaijani: çökmək (az)
Catalan: col·lapsar (ca)
Finnish: romahtaa (fi)
French: s'effondrer (fr)
German: zusammenbrechen (de), kollabieren (de)
Greek: καταρρέω (el) (katarréo)
Italian: collassare (it), bloccarsi, arrestarsi (it)
Khmer: ដួល (km) (duəl)
Old English: hrēosan
Romanian: prăbuși (ro) f
Spanish: derrumbarse (es), desplomarse (es)
Swedish: krascha (sv)
Thai: พัง (th) (pang)
Vietnamese: sụp đổ (vi)

to fold compactly

Catalan: plegar (ca)
Finnish: taittaa kokoon, painaa kokoon; romahduttaa, saada romahtamaan
German: einfallen (de)
Greek: διπλώνω (el) (diplóno)
Hebrew: התקפל‎ (hitkapél)
Italian: collassare (it), crollare (it)
Manx: ^{(please verify)} fill (of car hood, etc.)
Maori: whakakopa
Portuguese: contrair (pt)
Russian: скла́дываться (ru) impf (skládyvatʹsja), сложи́ться (ru) pf (složítʹsja); свора́чиваться (ru) impf (svoráčivatʹsja), сверну́ться (ru) pf (svernútʹsja)
Spanish: colapsar (es)

(computing) to hide additional directory (folder) levels.

Catalan: plegar (ca)
Hebrew: קיפל‎ (kipél)
Maori: whakatiango

cricket term

to cause to collapse

Albanian: vithis (sq)
Bulgarian: срутвам (bg) (srutvam)
Finnish: romauttaa, romahduttaa; purkaa (fi), kaataa (fi)
German: einsacken lassen, zusammenfallen lassen, zusammensinken lassen, zusammenfalten (de), zusammenlegen (de)
Greek: αποσυνθέτω (el) (aposynthéto), σπάω (el) (spáo), λύνω (el) (lýno)
Hebrew: מוטט‎ (motét)
Italian: ^{(please verify)} far collassare, ^{(please verify)} far crollare
Khmer: បំភ្លូក (km) (bɑmpluuk)
Maori: whakahoro, tūraki, tukituki
Russian: скла́дывать (ru) impf (skládyvatʹ), сложи́ть (ru) pf (složítʹ); свора́чивать (ru) impf (svoráčivatʹ), сверну́ть (ru) pf (svernútʹ)
Thai: พัง (th) (pang), ล้ม (th) (lóm)

to pass out and fall to the floor or ground

Catalan: col·lapsar-se
Esperanto: kolapsi
Finnish: lysähtää (fi), lyyhistyä (fi)
German: ohnmächtig niedersinken, ohnmächtig zusammensinken, kollabieren (de)
Hebrew: התמוטט‎ (hitmotét)
Khmer: បះជើងច្រោង (bah cəəŋ craoŋ), ទ្រោមចៃដន្យ (troom caydɑn)
Latin: prōlābor, decido
Manx: tuitt
Maori: porowhā, hinga
Swedish: kollapsa (sv)
Thai: ล้ม (th) (lóm)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} kolapsi
Ido: ^{(please verify)} febleskar (io)
Old English: ^{(please verify)} drēosan
Telugu: ^{(please verify)} కుప్పకూలు (kuppakūlu)

Noun

collapse (countable and uncountable, plural collapses)

The act of collapsing.
She suffered a terrible collapse after slipping on the wet floor.
- 2012 April 21, Jonathan Jurejko, “Newcastle 3-0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport‎:
  The top six are assured of continental competition and after making a statement of intent against Stoke, it would take a dramatic collapse for Newcastle to surrender their place.
- 2021 May 5, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Heathrow Western Rail Access scheme 'on hold'”, in RAIL, number 930, page 26:
  However the collapse in demand for rail and air travel caused by the pandemic has had a knock-on effect for the project's funding.
Constant function, one-valued function (in automata theory) (in particular application causing a reset). (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

batting collapse
Bronze Age collapse
colony collapse disorder
fantasy collapse
gravitational collapse
Late Bronze Age collapse
pedigree collapse
wavefunction collapse

Translations

act of collapsing

Armenian: անկում (hy) (ankum)
Bulgarian: срутване (bg) n (srutvane)
Catalan: col·lapse (ca) m
Dutch: ineenstorting (nl) f, instorten (nl) n
Finnish: romahdus (fi), sortuminen (fi), luhistuminen (fi); kollapsi (fi)
French: effondrement (fr) m
German: Kollaps (de) m
Greek: κατάρρευση (el) f (katárrefsi), (medicine) λιποθυμία (el) f (lipothymía)
Hebrew: התמוטטות‎ f (hitmot'et'ut), קריסה‎ f (qrisa)
Italian: collasso (it) m (medicine), crollo (it) m (material and financial), tracollo (it) m (finance)
Japanese: 崩壊 (ja) (ほうかい, hōkai)
Korean: 붕괴 (ko) (bunggoe)
Latin: lābēs (la) f, ruīna f
Lithuanian: grūtis n
Manx: cohuittym m
Maori: tūrakitanga
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kollaps m
Nynorsk: kollaps m
Polish: zapaść (pl) f
Portuguese: desabamento m, desmoronamento m, colapso (pt) m
Quechua: thuñi
Romanian: colaps (ro) n, cădere (ro) f
Russian: обва́л (ru) m (obvál), прова́л (ru) (provál), колла́пс (ru) m (kolláps), круше́ние (ru) n (krušénije), крах (ru) m (krax)
Spanish: colapso (es) m, desplome (es) m
Swedish: kollaps (sv) c
Ukrainian: кола́пс m (koláps)

one-valued function

Italian: funzione costante, collasso (it)

Anagrams

Capellos, escallop

French

Pronunciation

Homophones: collapsent, collapses

Verb

collapse

inflection of collapser:
1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
2. second-person singular imperative

Latin

Participle

collāpse

vocative masculine singular of collāpsus