Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Collapse

Col·lapse′ (ku·lăps′), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Collapsed; p. pr. & vb. n. Collapsing] [L. collapsus, p. p. of collabi to collapse; col- + labi to fall, slide. See Lapse.] 1. 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; as, a flue in the boiler of a steam engine sometimes collapses.

A balloon collapses when the gas escapes from it. Maunder.

2. To fail suddenly and completely, like something hollow when subject to too much pressure; to undergo a collapse; as, Maximilian's government collapsed soon after the French army left Mexico; many financial projects collapse after attaining some success and importance.

Col·lapse′ (kŏl·lăps′), n. 1. A falling together suddenly, as of the sides of a hollow vessel.

2. A sudden and complete failure; an utter failure of any kind; a breakdown. [Colloq.]

3. (Med.) Extreme depression or sudden failing of all the vital powers, as the result of disease, injury, or nervous disturbance.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.