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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to fail
to be unsuccessful
the legal case collapsed in the face of the opposition's evidence
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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
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1
as in exhaustion
a complete depletion of energy or strength
suffered a mental collapse under the strain of studying for his bar exam
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of collapse
Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 2 May 2026
In 2005, four of the stacks collapsed, followed by a fifth four years later, so only seven remain.
—ArsTechnica, 2 May 2026
Robert Lea, Space.com, 8 May 2026
Most fuel storage tanks have floating roofs, which puts them in danger of collapse or an explosion if levels drop below 20% of capacity.
—Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 8 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for collapse
Verb
Likely, the right play will often be to collapse the Spurs’ defense and then kick out.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 2 May 2026
In 2005, four of the stacks collapsed, followed by a fifth four years later, so only seven remain.
—ArsTechnica, 2 May 2026
Noun
Nugent explained that the mergers may prefer more star-forming and less massive galaxies as host environments, unlike core collapse supernovas which tend to occur in more stellar-dense massive galaxies.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 8 May 2026
Most fuel storage tanks have floating roofs, which puts them in danger of collapse or an explosion if levels drop below 20% of capacity.
—Aldo Svaldi, Denver Post, 8 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for collapse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for collapse
Verb
-
All five girls jumped off the couch, stampeded toward the apartment door, and tumbled into the building’s stairwell, stepping on each other’s heels.—
Anna Wiener,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
Although Alphabet shares rose, Meta shares tumbled, a sign of investor concerns about the Facebook-parent’s massive AI spending without a clear new revenue opportunity or cloud computing business.—
Jonathan Vanian,
CNBC,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
The same regulators failed to pay attention when Prospect sold hospital assets and paid themselves the proceeds, leaving the hospitals finances increasingly precarious.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
9 May 2026
-
Ugarte previously agreed to a $25,000 settlement with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission over failing to disclose outside income earned through his consulting firm while serving as a City Hall aide to Price.—
Teresa Liu,
Daily News,
9 May 2026
Verb
-
In sports, especially, where career timelines are often compressed, the difference between abrupt endings and seamless transitions usually comes down to this kind of enterprise mindset.—
Sandra Richards,
Rolling Stone,
8 May 2026
-
Imagine taking a huge cloud of gas, and compressing much of that material down into just a few clumps that were much smaller in physical size.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
8 May 2026
Noun
-
There’s a deeper exhaustion here that can’t be ignored.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
28 Apr. 2026
-
It was determined Megan had suffered from extreme exhaustion, dehydration, vasoconstriction, and low metabolic levels.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
All season long, the Wolves have relied on their resilience to bounce back from embarrassing defeats.—
Jon Krawczynski,
New York Times,
7 May 2026
-
The defeat snapped a five-game winning streak for the pinstripers.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
These were all things the Storm should have been celebrating afterward, but yet, for the second week in a row, the coaches and players will be headed back to the film room to figure out what went wrong.—
Chris Hays,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 May 2026
-
Player of the Week Senior pitcher Jaelynn Anthony goes 4-for-5 for Oswego with three homers, a double and seven RBIs in 14-6 win over Minooka.—
Rick Armstrong,
Chicago Tribune,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
Suggs set the tone for the series in the opening quarter of Game 1, disrupting Pistons passes, sinking a pair of 3-pointers and belly-flopping to the floor to collect a loose basketball.—
Josh Robbins,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
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On Thursday morning, visitors snapped photos as the Steller sea lion flopped on the pier, surrounded by dozens of much smaller California sea lions that call the docks home.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The global economy and consumers everywhere Consumers across the world are already getting squeezed by the impacts of the war.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
2 May 2026
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In a behind-the-scenes shot by Alex Bramall, Princess Charlotte is seen sitting in front of Eugenie, laughing so hard her eyes are squeezed shut.—
Stephanie Petit,
PEOPLE,
2 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Collapse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/collapse. Accessed 9 May. 2026.
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