collapse

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To fall down or inward suddenly; cave in.
2. v. To break down suddenly in strength or health and thereby cease to function: a monarchy that collapsed.
3. v. To fold compactly: chairs that collapse for storage.
4. v. To cause to fold, break down, or fall down or inward.
5. n. The act of falling down or inward, as from loss of supports.
6. n. An abrupt failure of function, strength, or health; a breakdown.
7. n. An abrupt loss of perceived value or of effect: the collapse of popular respect for the integrity of world leaders.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To fall together, or into an irregular mass or flattened form, through loss of firm connection or rigidity and support of the parts or loss of the contents, as a building through the falling in of its sides, or an inflated bladder from escape of the air contained in it.
2. Figuratively— To break down; go to pieces; come to nothing; fail; become ruined: as, the project collapsed.
3. In pathology, to sink into extreme weakness or physical depression in the course of a disease.
4. To appear as if collapsing; lose strength, courage, etc.; subside; cease to assert one's self or push one's self forward: as, after that rebuke he collapsed.
5. n. A falling in or together, as of the sides of a hollow vessel.
6. n. Figuratively, a sudden and complete failure of any kind; a breakdown.
7. n. In medicine, an extreme sinking or depression; a more or less sudden failure of the vital powers: as, the stage of collapse in cholera.

Wiktionary

1. v. intransitive To fall down suddenly; to cave in
2. v. intransitive To cease to function due to a sudden breakdown
3. v. intransitive To fold compactly
4. v. cricket For several batsmen to get out in quick succession
5. v. transitive To cause something to collapse.
6. v. intransitive To pass out and fall to the floor or ground, as from exhaustion or other illness; to faint
7. n. The act of collapsing
8. n. Constant function, one-valued function (in automata theory) (in particular application causing a reset)

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To fall together suddenly, as the sides of a hollow vessel; to close by falling or shrinking together; to have the sides or parts of (a thing) fall in together, or be crushed in together.
2. v. To fail suddenly and completely, like something hollow when subject to too much pressure; to undergo a collapse.
3. n. A falling together suddenly, as of the sides of a hollow vessel.
4. n. colloq. A sudden and complete failure; an utter failure of any kind; a breakdown.
5. n. (Med.) Extreme depression or sudden failing of all the vital powers, as the result of disease, injury, or nervous disturbance.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack
2. v. fall apart
3. v. break down, literally or metaphorically
4. v. suffer a nervous breakdown
5. n. a sudden large decline of business or the prices of stocks (especially one that causes additional failures)
6. v. cause to burst
7. n. an abrupt failure of function or complete physical exhaustion
8. v. fold or close up
9. n. a natural event caused by something suddenly falling down or caving in
10. v. lose significance, effectiveness, or value
11. n. the act of throwing yourself down