collision course
Heading toward impact
A collision course is a trajectory that, if unchanged, leads to impact—whether physical or metaphorical.
Ships on a collision course will crash unless one alters heading.
The phrase usually appears figuratively: The two departments were on a collision course over budget priorities.
The implication is that conflict is inevitable without intervention.
- head onFacing front to front
- impactForceful contact or consequence
- crashSudden violent impact
- train wreckUtter chaotic disaster
- showdownDecisive final confrontation
smash · confrontation · inevitable · point of no return · encounter · fender bender · accident · close call · brink · dead ahead · trajectory · asteroid impact · path · conflict · bump · track · intercept · approach
- Asteroid DefenseNEO, planetary defense, threat detection, early warning, hazard assessment
- trajectoriestrajectory, arc, path, parabola, flight path
collision courseevasive maneuver
Action to avoid capture
course correction · wide berth · clear path · near miss · miss
collision coursecommon ground
Points of agreement
meeting of minds · harmony · alignment · détente · rapprochement
collision coursesafe passage
Protected transit through danger
smooth sailing · clear sailing · steady course · soft landing · controlled descent
course, collision, collide, coursing, collides, colliding, collisions, collider, colliders