How to Use collapse in a Sentence

collapse

1 of 2 verb
Definition of collapsenext
Synonyms for collapsenext
  • The roof collapsed under a heavy load of snow.
  • The chair he was sitting in collapsed.
  • She came home from work and collapsed on the sofa.
  • The crying child ran to his mother and collapsed in her arms.
  • He collapsed on stage during the performance and had to be rushed to the hospital.
  • He warned that such measures could cause the economy to collapse.
  • The civilization collapsed for reasons that are still unknown.
  • The bomb had ripped through the walls, and the upper floors had collapsed.
    — Hannah Allam, Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2023
  • Keeli Fuller took a pitch to the head the following play and collapsed on the field.
    — Lia Assimakopoulos, Dallas News, 2 June 2023
  • And what was the use of owning land when the world was collapsing?
    — Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024
  • There, the roof collapsed into the third-floor apartments.
    — Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 21 July 2023
  • Part of the second floor collapsed onto the first floor and into the basement.
    — Jeremy Ryan, CNN, 2 June 2023
  • The victim collapsed, and the suspect fled as people tried to help him.
    — Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2023
  • The Sultanganj Bridge is not the only one to have collapsed in India in the last year.
    — Rhea Mogul, CNN, 6 June 2023
  • And then Tongsu walked over to the river, washed his hands and his face, and climbed back up to his house, collapsed on the floor, and slept.
    — Paul Yoon, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023
  • The filling can quickly soften and may collapse if the pie gets too warm.
    — Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 30 Dec. 2023
  • Others ran to save the horses as the warehouse collapsed on a hook and ladder truck.
    — Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 24 June 2023
  • This week, during the matches in New York, a fan collapsed in the stands from the 100-degree heat index.
    — Marek Makowski, The New Republic, 9 Sep. 2023
  • The house collapsed after the explosion and then a fire started.
    — Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 24 Dec. 2023
  • Keep in Mind The greenhouse is not load-rated and may collapse if snow piles up on its cover.
    — Rachel Center, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 June 2023
  • In fact, towns along the Volga River that once thrived because of the caviar trade are collapsing in the wake of the near extinction of the species.
    — Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 19 Oct. 2023
  • Some roads collapsed due to flooding, which also saw mudslides hit the city, piling up stones of all sizes on the roads.
    — Larissa Gao, NBC News, 8 Sep. 2023
  • The faintings were so frequent that Bergonzi sometimes stepped over people, collapsed on the floor, to reach the next person.
    — Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2023
  • About a minute later, after turning around and leaping over at least one more fence, the bear collapsed in a yard.
    — Dana Hedgpeth, Washington Post, 9 June 2023
  • By the end of the track, V gives all the performers a thumbs-up for a job well done and jokingly collapses into his seat.
    — Starr Bowenbank, Billboard, 21 Sep. 2023
  • The force of the crash caused her father Andy's seat to collapse backward, colliding with Taylor, who was strapped in her car seat.
    — Kris Van Cleave, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Her dad, struggling to come to terms with how his and his daughter’s lives have collapsed, is resisting for now.
    — Nicholas Kristof, The Mercury News, 6 Feb. 2024
  • What Could Be Better The flexible design runs the risk of collapsing when full.
    — Nor'adila Hepburn, Southern Living, 14 Dec. 2023
  • The low sugar content helps the potatoes collapse better.
    — Josie Goodrich, USA TODAY, 25 Aug. 2023
  • As Venus and Uranus clash, new partnerships form and others collapse.
    — USA TODAY, 3 Mar. 2024
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collapse

2 of 2 noun
  • She was on the verge of collapse.
  • The structure is in danger of collapse.
  • The country has endured civil war and economic collapse.
  • The collapse of the I-10 during the Northridge earthquake.
    — Rachel Uranga, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2023
  • On Friday, a massive crane – the largest on the East Coast – was being moved to the scene of the collapse.
    — Ray Sanchez, CNN, 29 Mar. 2024
  • The bridge collapse hasn’t caused a surge in marine shipping rates, as some watchers feared.
    — Dylan Sloan, Fortune, 10 Apr. 2024
  • Then there was the grueling trip to the new world, the colony’s collapse and, now, a solo journey that makes up the greater part of this story.
    — Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2023
  • New details have also emerged about the 10 minutes leading up to the collapse.
    — Holly Yan, CNN, 6 June 2023
  • The West Bank’s already fragile economy is on the verge of collapse.
    — Loveday Morris, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024
  • In the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse, Russia had no choice but to turn to the West for technology.
    — Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2023
  • The bill sought to prevent parking garage collapses like the one that took a chunk out of Bayshore mall's garage in February 2023.
    — Claudia Levens, Journal Sentinel, 15 Mar. 2024
  • The speed and severity of the collapse in diamond prices caught many by surprise.
    — Thomas Biesheuvel, Fortune, 11 Nov. 2023
  • Yet the complete collapse of travel during the pandemic hit the city hard.
    — Lionel Lim, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2023
  • Walking around at constant risk of collapse isn't worth the stress, so make an effort to find healthy release.
    — Tarot Astrologers, Chicago Tribune, 8 July 2023
  • That came after the first pounding storm of the season led to the partial collapse of the tower, exposing the wood that holds up the golden dome.
    — Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2024
  • A day after the dam’s collapse, the cause remained unclear, with both sides blaming each other.
    — Vasilisa Stepanenko, Anchorage Daily News, 7 June 2023
  • Evergrande was left on the verge of collapse, in a crisis that many saw as marking the end for China’s housing boom.
    — Meaghan Tobin, Washington Post, 29 Jan. 2024
  • The rapid collapse of Russian positions around Kharkiv in October 2022 was the result of months of steady Ukrainian pressure on the ground and in the rear.
    — Karolina Hird, Time, 3 Aug. 2023
  • But, of course, Scott’s betrayal is a small episode in the collapse of decency and any sense of shame that Trump’s lordship demands of his acolytes.
    — Christian Schneider, National Review, 25 Jan. 2024
  • The symptoms of heart attacks in men are widely known: crushing chest pain, a telling sensation in the left arm, or sudden collapse.
    — Maggie Fox, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
  • Two people were rescued from the river shortly after the collapse.
    — Nicole Sganga, CBS News, 28 Mar. 2024
  • Despite alarm bells, economists say China is likely not on the verge of collapse, but this could be a turning point.
    — Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Sep. 2023
  • The first installment of $60 million was released Thursday, March 28th – just two days after the collapse.
    — Kate Vitasek, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
  • The Warriors’ latest late-game collapse negated a hot shooting night for Steph Curry.
    — Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Experts say those forces could have made the railroad bridge more unstable and contributed to its collapse.
    — Matthew Brown, BostonGlobe.com, 21 July 2023
  • Judge Fraser, who witnessed the collapse, praised the response of the Sheriff’s Department and said his staff was shaken by the incident.
    — Greg Moran, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2023
  • In Venezuela alone, the collapse of the economy there has prompted more than 7 million to leave the country, the largest refugee exodus recorded in the Western Hemisphere.
    — Camilo Montoya-Galvez, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2023
  • Nine others were injured in the collapse, and five of those were in critical condition Wednesday night.
    — Nick Rosenberger, Idaho Statesman, 3 Feb. 2024
  • And while Krall certainly seems as likely as any pitching-needy contender to land some help, a funny thing has happened on the way to the Reds’ inevitable staff collapse.
    — Gordon Wittenmyer, The Enquirer, 22 July 2023
  • Most chemical straighteners snap the ladder’s sulfur rungs, and the keratin fiber rails collapse; curly hair falls flat.
    — Syris Valentine, Scientific American, 14 Nov. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'collapse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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