collapse

Etymology

From Latin collāpsus (past participle of collābor).

verb

1. (intransitive) To break apart and fall down suddenly; to cave in.
   A balloon collapses when the gas escapes from it. 1843, Samuel Maunder, The Scientific and Literary Treasury
2. (intransitive) To cease to function due to a sudden breakdown; to fail suddenly and completely.
   Pyramid schemes tend to generate profits for a while and then collapse.
3. (intransitive) To fold compactly.
4. (transitive, computing) To hide additional directory (folder) levels below the selected directory (folder) levels. When a folder contains no additional folders, a minus sign (-) appears next to the folder.
5. (cricket) For several batsmen to get out in quick succession
6. (transitive) To cause something to collapse.
   Hurry up and collapse the tent so we can get moving.
   Thomas added: "We presented our experiences of frantically trying to collapse a pram, surrounded by loads of grumpy commuters. August 9 2023, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Family-friendly travel: new standard covers pushchairs”, in RAIL, number 989, page 26
7. (intransitive) To pass out and fall to the floor or ground, as from exhaustion or other illness; to faint.
   The exhausted singer collapsed on stage and had to be taken to the hospital.

noun

1. The act of collapsing.
   She suffered a terrible collapse after slipping on the wet floor.
   The top six are assured of continental competition and after making a statement of intent against Stoke, it would take a dramatic collapse for Newcastle to surrender their place. April 21, 2012, Jonathan Jurejko, “Newcastle 3-0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport
   However the collapse in demand for rail and air travel caused by the pandemic has had a knock-on effect for the project's funding. May 5 2021, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Heathrow Western Rail Access scheme 'on hold'”, in RAIL, number 930, page 26
2. Constant function, one-valued function (in automata theory) (in particular application causing a reset).