To break apart and fall down suddenly; to cave in.
A balloon collapses when the gas escapes from it.1843, Samuel Maunder, The Scientific and Literary Treasury:
2
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.
However much we like to think of ourselves as something special in world history, in fact industrial societies are subject to the same principles that caused earlier societies to collapse.1988, Joseph Tainter, “Summary and Implications”, in The Collapse of Complex Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 216:
3
To fold compactly.
4
Figuratively To conflate, to ignore the distinctions between.
5
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences In a hierarchical list (such as a directory tree or table of contents), to hide the subentries of (an entry).
Immediately after his wicket the team collapsed for 69.
7
To cause something to collapse.
Hurry up and collapse the tent so we can get moving.
Thomas added: "We presented our experiences of frantically trying to collapse a pram, surrounded by loads of grumpy commuters.2023 August 9, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Family-friendly travel: new standard covers pushchairs”, in RAIL, number 989, page 26:
8
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.
Etymology From Latin collāpsus (past participle of collābor).
1
The act of collapsing.
She suffered a terrible collapse after slipping on the wet floor.
in a state of nervous collapse
2 more examples
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.2012 April 21, Jonathan Jurejko, “Newcastle 3-0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:
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.2021 May 5, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Heathrow Western Rail Access scheme 'on hold'”, in RAIL, number 930, page 26:
2
Constant function, one-valued function (in automata theory) (in particular application causing a reset).