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Wreck vs Collapse - What's the difference?

wreck | collapse |

As nouns the difference between wreck and collapse

is that wreck is something or someone that has been ruined while collapse is the act of collapsing.

As verbs the difference between wreck and collapse

is that wreck is to destroy violently; to cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless while collapse is to fall down suddenly; to cave in.

wreck

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Something or someone that has been ruined.
    • He was an emotional wreck after the death of his wife.
  • The remains of something that has been severely damaged or worn down.
  • * Cowper
    • To the fair haven of my native home, / The wreck of what I was, fatigued I come.
  • An event in which something is damaged through collision.
  • * Addison
    • the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds
  • * Spenser
    • Hard and obstinate / As is a rock amidst the raging floods, / 'Gainst which a ship, of succour desolate, / Doth suffer wreck , both of herself and goods.
  • * J. R. Green
    • Its intellectual life was thus able to go on amidst the wreck of its political life.
  • (legal) Goods, etc. cast ashore by the sea after a shipwreck.
    • (Bouvier)

    Synonyms

    * crash * ruins

    Derived terms

    * shipwreck

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To destroy violently; to cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless.
    • He wrecked the car in a collision.
    That adulterous hussy wrecked my marriage!
  • * Shakespeare
    • Supposing that they saw the king's ship wrecked .
  • To ruin or dilapidate.
  • (Australia) To dismantle wrecked vehicles or other objects, to reclaim any useful parts.
  • To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.
  • * Daniel
    • Weak and envied, if they should conspire, / They wreck themselves.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * build * construct * make * produce

    Derived terms

    * bewreck * wrecker * wreckage

    References

    collapse

    English

    (wikipedia collapse)

    Verb

    (collaps)
  • To fall down suddenly; to cave in
  • * Maunder
    • A balloon collapses when the gas escapes from it.
  • 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 .
  • To fold compactly
  • (cricket) For several batsmen to get out in quick succession
  • To cause something to collapse.
    • Hurry up and collapse the tent so we can get moving.
  • To pass out and fall to the floor or ground, as from exhaustion or other illness; to faint
    • The exhausted singer collapsed onstage and had to be taken to the hospital.

    Derived terms

    * collapsible

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of collapsing
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=April 21 , author=Jonathan Jurejko , title=Newcastle 3-0 Stoke , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The top six are assured of continental competition and after making a statement of intent against Stoke, it would take a dramatic collapse for Newcastle to surrender their place.}}
  • Constant function, one-valued function (in automata theory) (in particular application causing a reset)

    • Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs ----