collapsing

Verb

collapse (third-person singular simple present collapses, present participle collapsing, simple past and past participle collapsed)

1. (intransitive) To break apart and fall down suddenly; to cave in.
   • The wall collapsed when it was hit by the wrecking ball.
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.

   Synonyms:

   slump

3. (intransitive) To fold compactly.

   Synonyms:

   telescope

4. (figuratively, transitive) To conflate, to ignore the distinctions between.
5. (transitive) In a hierarchical list (such as a directory tree or table of contents), to hide the subentries of (an entry).

   Antonyms:

   expand

6. (intransitive) To suffer a batting collapse.
   • Immediately after his wicket the team collapsed for 69.

See all 10 meanings of collapse