collapse

From Wiktionary
collapse is on the Academic Word List.

Pronunciation[change]

Verb[change]

Plain form
collapse

Third-person singular
collapses

Past tense
collapsed

Past participle
collapsed

Present participle
collapsing

  1. Something collapses when all its parts fall down loosely. A building or a bridge collapses when it breaks and all its parts fall down. A person collapses when they are tired and they fall into a chair or onto a bed and are too tired to get up.
    He was so tired, he just collapsed onto that chair.
    The bridge collapsed, but no one was hurt.

Related words[change]

Noun[change]

Singular
collapse

Plural
collapses

  1. The act of collapsing.
    The collapse of the bridge means we can't go over the river any longer.