collapse
Sudden giving way
Collapse is a sudden loss of structure or support.
Buildings collapse when they give way; people collapse when they fall or faint.
Systems, governments, and negotiations collapse when they fail completely.
A collapsed lung has lost its ability to inflate.
To collapse into something—a chair, tears, laughter—is to surrender to it suddenly: She collapsed onto the sofa after work.
Figuratively, things collapse when distinctions between them disappear: The two categories collapse into one.
Broken building fragments
- debrisScattered broken fragments
- cave-inUnderground passage collapse
- implosionViolent collapse inward
- crumbleFragment gradually
demolition · sinkhole · wreckage · ruins · avalanche · landslide · disintegration · pancake
Failure or decomposition
- malfunctionFailure to operate properly
- crashSudden violent impact
- meltdownCatastrophic loss of control
- bankruptcyLegal status when insolvent
insolvency · default · bust · fiasco · debacle · catastrophe · disaster · crisis
Economic decline period
- recessionProlonged economic decline
- slumpExtended period of decline
- depressionProlonged low state
- deteriorateGrow worse over time
degenerate · atrophy · decay · wane · ebb · diminish · weaken · shrink
State of utter depletion
- burnoutChronic occupational depletion
- overwhelmDefeat by excess
- breakdownFailure or decomposition
- buckleFrame-and-prong fastener
succumb · crack · depleted · spent · drained · overwork · stress · nervous
Violent collapse inward
- explosionViolent burst of energy
- ruptureViolent tearing apart
- burstBreak apart suddenly
- crashSudden violent impact
shock · upheaval · catastrophic · instantaneous · abrupt · violent · dramatic · cascade
Bend onto itself
- compactTightly packed together
- condenseMake more compact
- flattenMake level or smooth
- deflateRelease air from
telescope · squash · shrink · compress · accordion · portable · pack · stow
Weak and indistinct
- syncopeTemporary loss of consciousness
- seizureForcible taking or convulsion
- strokeSudden brain blood blockage
- cardiacPertaining to the heart
prostration · unconscious · blackout · shock · dehydration · heatstroke · vertigo · swoon
rubble
Broken building fragments
crumble · demolition · sinkhole · wreckage · ruins · avalanche · landslide · disintegration · pancake · buckle
breakdown
Failure or decomposition
- malfunctionFailure to operate properly
- crashSudden violent impact
- meltdownCatastrophic loss of control
bankruptcy · insolvency · default · bust · fiasco · debacle · catastrophe · disaster · crisis · ruin
downturn
Economic decline period
- recessionProlonged economic decline
- slumpExtended period of decline
- depressionProlonged low state
deteriorate · degenerate · atrophy · decay · wane · ebb · diminish · weaken · shrink · contract
exhaustion
State of utter depletion
buckle · succumb · crack · depleted · spent · drained · overwork · stress · nervous · emotional
implosion
Violent collapse inward
crash · shock · upheaval · catastrophic · instantaneous · abrupt · violent · dramatic · cascade · domino
fold
Bend onto itself
deflate · telescope · squash · shrink · compress · accordion · portable · pack · stow · nested
faint
Weak and indistinct
- syncopeTemporary loss of consciousness
- seizureForcible taking or convulsion
- strokeSudden brain blood blockage
cardiac · prostration · unconscious · blackout · shock · dehydration · heatstroke · vertigo · swoon · debility
- button labelssubmit, cancel, save, delete, edit
- demolitiondemolish, raze, bulldoze, controlled demolition, wreck
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- illnessdisease, sickness, illness, ailment, disorder
- burnoutburned out, burnt out, burn out, burning out, burnout
- business troublesbankruptcy, crisis, failure, insolvency, layoffs
- financial collapseCatastrophic failure of markets
- economic collapseCatastrophic failure of finances
- structural collapseFramework giving way
- stock collapseRapid decline in equities
- mental collapseAcute psychological failure
- bridge collapseStructure over water falling
collapsed, collapsing, collapses, collapsible, collapsable, recollapse, uncollapsed, recollapsed, recollapsing