- (of a structure) fall down or in; give way（建筑）倒塌; 塌陷：
the roof collapsed on top of me.
屋顶就在我头上塌了下来。
- with obj. cause (something) to fall in or give way使倒塌; 使塌陷：
it feels as if the slightest pressure would collapse it
它给人以一种轻轻一碰就会倒塌的感觉
figurative 〈喻〉many people tend to collapse the distinction between the two concepts.
许多人倾向于消除这两种观念之间的差别。
- (of a lung or blood vessel) fall inwards and become flat and empty（肺, 血管）萎陷：
as adj. collapsed a collapsed lung.一叶已萎陷的肺。
- with obj. cause (a lung or blood vessel) to do this使（肺, 血管）萎陷。
- (of a person) fall down and become unconscious, typically through illness or injury（尤指因生病或受伤而）昏倒：
he collapsed from loss of blood.
他因失血而昏倒。
- sit or lie down as a result of exhaustion or amusement（因疲劳或为逗乐而）霍地坐下（或躺下）：
exhausted, he collapsed on the bed
他累得一下子瘫坐在床上
the three of them collapsed with laughter.
他们三人笑得前俯后仰。
- (of an institution or undertaking) fail suddenly and completely（机构、事业或行动）突然失败; 崩溃; 倒闭：
in the face of such resolve his opposition finally collapsed.
面对如此坚定的决心, 他无力对抗, 终于败北。
- (of a price or currency) drop suddenly in value（价格）突然下跌; （货币）突然贬值。
- fold or be foldable into a small space折叠（起来）：
no obj. some cots collapse down to fit into a bag or holdall.有些帆布床可以折叠起来, 放进袋子或轻便旅行袋里。
- with obj. compress a displayed part of (a spreadsheet or other electronic document)重叠, 套缩（空白表格程序或其他电子文档）的显示部分：
tabulation programs can be used to collapse this list in various ways.
制表程序可用于以各种方式套缩这份列表。
- an instance of a structure falling down or in倒塌; 塌陷：
the collapse of a railway bridge
一座铁路桥梁的倒塌
mass noun the church roof is in danger of collapse.这座教堂的屋顶有倒塌的危险。
- a sudden failure of an institution or undertaking突然倒闭; 崩溃; 瓦解：
the collapse of modern society.
现代社会的崩溃。
- a physical or mental breakdown（身体或精神上的）崩溃; 垮掉：
he suffered a collapse from overwork
他因过度操劳而病倒
mass noun she's lying there in a state of collapse.她躺在那儿, 处于崩溃状态。