1
as in to tumble
to fall down or in as a result of physical pressure
the motel balcony collapsed under the weight of so many people
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to fail
to be unsuccessful
the legal case collapsed in the face of the opposition's evidence
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to compress
to reduce in size or volume by or as if by pressing parts or members together
the novel collapses events from four separate trips into one long odyssey
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in exhaustion
a complete depletion of energy or strength
suffered a mental collapse under the strain of studying for his bar exam
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in defeat
a falling short of one's goals
the complete collapse of the invasion set off a round of finger-pointing and recrimination
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of collapse
ArsTechnica, 17 Apr. 2025
Some supernovae are from high-mass stars that explode when their core collapses at the end of their life, while others are from already dead white dwarfs that accumulate enough matter on their surface to cause a catastrophic star-wide thermonuclear explosion.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 17 Apr. 2025
Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 9 Apr. 2025
The Dominican Republic National Police confirmed 79 people were killed as a result of the roof collapse as of Tuesday night.
—Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 9 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for collapse
Verb
Transmitted by bites, scratches, or even just by getting a drop of infected blood in one's mouth, the virus spreads rapidly, effectively collapsing society.
—ArsTechnica, 17 Apr. 2025
Some supernovae are from high-mass stars that explode when their core collapses at the end of their life, while others are from already dead white dwarfs that accumulate enough matter on their surface to cause a catastrophic star-wide thermonuclear explosion.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 17 Apr. 2025
Noun
Dominican officials have not commented on potential causes of the collapse, which also injured more than 255 survivors.
—Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 9 Apr. 2025
The Dominican Republic National Police confirmed 79 people were killed as a result of the roof collapse as of Tuesday night.
—Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 9 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for collapse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for collapse
Verb
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Prices for Canadian imports tumbled 1.5% while goods from Mexico were 0.3% cheaper.—
Lucia Mutikani,
USA Today,
16 Apr. 2025
-
Stocks tumbled Wednesday after Nvidia warned new U.S. restrictions on exports to China will chisel billions of dollars off its results, with market losses accelerating after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned about the economic risks from President Trump's tariffs.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
16 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Most failed to hit their targets and crashed into the ocean.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2025
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Senate Bill 376 by Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, failed to clear the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee in a voice vote with audible dissent.—
Josh Snyder,
Arkansas Online,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The song is deliberately compressed to sound like a Phil Spector track, and a video John made for the Gilbert O’Sullivan Show in 1973 features a rare cameo from Bernie mimicking Ray Cooper on bells.—
Shana Naomi Krochmal,
Vulture,
4 Apr. 2025
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Many of them focus on radically new technologies for heating and compressing plasmas, or fusing unusual combinations of isotopes.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Overtraining can lead to mental exhaustion and burnout.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
19 Apr. 2025
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The specific exhaustion of being a mother By Olga Khazan Subscribe to Listen1.0x 0:009:47 Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (Noa) using AI narration.—
Olga Khazan,
The Atlantic,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The 30-year-old, who has played 29 times for Bournemouth in the Premier League this season, was withdrawn on 58 minutes during his side’s 2-1 defeat at Ipswich Town on April 2.—
Leon Imber,
New York Times,
9 Apr. 2025
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The loss ends Bayern Munich’s run of 22 home games without a defeat in the Champions League.—
Manuel Veth,
Forbes.com,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Instead, the Knicks went 0-10 against the league’s top three teams (the Celtics, Cavaliers and Thunder).—
James L. Edwards III,
New York Times,
13 Apr. 2025
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If one or two bounces had gone the other way, Dartmouth would have advanced to the final four for the first time in school history.—
Jay King,
New York Times,
13 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Her cookery show seems to have bombed and the previous podcast deal with Spotify flopped, so the desire to succeed this time is weighing heavily on her shoulders.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
8 Apr. 2025
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If the company’s stock flops, your reward flops too.—
Anatoly Iofe,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2025
Verb
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For years, researchers have been experimenting with quantization techniques that squeeze their neural network weights into smaller memory envelopes.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
18 Apr. 2025
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Mike Pavlik, whose family lived across the alley behind ours and who was the leadoff batter on our softball team, squeezed my arm.—
David McGrath,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Collapse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/collapse. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
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