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
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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
Conor McGill, CBS News, 16 May 2026
Chaotic terrain is characterized by fractured, jumbled blocks of rock thought to have formed when underground ice melted and caused the surface above to collapse.
—Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 15 May 2026
Lane Brown, Vulture, 15 May 2026
Orlando City survived a second-half collapse and a wild back-and-forth affair to secure a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night at Inter&Co Stadium.
—Kyle Foley, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for collapse
Verb
During class, Mark suddenly collapsed after going into cardiac arrest.
—Conor McGill, CBS News, 16 May 2026
Chaotic terrain is characterized by fractured, jumbled blocks of rock thought to have formed when underground ice melted and caused the surface above to collapse.
—Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 15 May 2026
Noun
Meanwhile, as trust in journalism collapses and most of the actual reporting disappears behind paywalls, readers head straight for the comment sections, which seem more like the voice of the people than anything written by a reporter — except many of those commenters may not be people at all.
—Lane Brown, Vulture, 15 May 2026
Orlando City survived a second-half collapse and a wild back-and-forth affair to secure a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night at Inter&Co Stadium.
—Kyle Foley, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for collapse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for collapse
Verb
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Even then, Toyota never had the outright pace of BMW, with the #8 Toyota eventually tumbling out of the top 10 after two stops on consecutive laps.—
Luke Smith,
New York Times,
9 May 2026
-
Finally, a handful of raw salmon chunks came tumbling out of the last chute.—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
8 May 2026
Verb
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In early 2022, after the state failed to pass a ban on such care for minors, Paxton wrote a legal opinion declaring transition care for minors to be child abuse.—
Jo Yurcaba,
NBC news,
16 May 2026
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The city filed a lawsuit saying the federal government failed to perform required reviews of how the project would affect the health and safety of residents and the environment.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
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But the window that Pawlikowski chooses for Fatherland is defiantly compact, a stretch of time that the director compresses even more to place the suicide of Erika’s brother Klaus, which happened in the south of France two months before, within the space of the trip.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
15 May 2026
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Anything that compresses operating margin compresses the cash flow bondholders are lending against.—
Dara-Abasi Ita,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
However, his own attempts to calculate a scientific law of human exhaustion were similarly dubious.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 May 2026
-
Two high-profile shows at the same time—and yet, her countenance displays no sign of exhaustion.—
Dennis Braatz,
Condé Nast Traveler,
11 May 2026
Noun
-
Burton finished with 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting in the first defeat for Golden State (2-1).—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 May 2026
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On Wednesday, his son’s header was responsible for the Quakes’ first defeat since a 1-0 home loss to these Sounders on March 15.—
Jon Becker,
Mercury News,
14 May 2026
Verb
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As co-owner of the Australian team along with fellow Hollywood star Hugh Jackman and Slingsby, Reynolds went practice racing on Friday and actually won the race.—
Andrew Rice,
New York Times,
11 May 2026
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The vibe of the ensuing sketch could go either way.—
Alex Barasch,
New Yorker,
11 May 2026
Verb
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That flopped, as have all subsequent attempts to protect nature permanently and on a large scale through the use of markets.—
John Reid,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
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Rick Pitino, Billy Donovan, Brad Stevens, Fred Hoiberg, John Calipari, Tim Floyd, Lon Kruger, Mike Montgomery, Leonard Hamilton all left college to try the NBA, and most flopped.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
13 May 2026
Verb
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On the Right, Israel is being squeezed by a smaller faction of the Make America Great Again movement that wants to pare back all American foreign aid.—
David Sivak,
The Washington Examiner,
16 May 2026
-
Gas prices are continuing to squeeze drivers at the pump.—
Claire Malon,
Chicago Tribune,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Collapse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/collapse. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
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