collision

American  

[kuh-lizh-uhn] / kəˈlɪʒ ən /

noun

1. the act of colliding; a coming violently into contact; crash.

   the collision of two airplanes.

2. a clash; conflict.

   a collision of purposes.

3. Physics. the meeting of particles or of bodies in which each exerts a force upon the other, causing the exchange of energy or momentum.

---

collision British  

/ kəˈlɪʒən /

noun

1. a violent impact of moving objects; crash

2. the conflict of opposed ideas, wishes, attitudes, etc

   a collision of interests

3. physics an event in which two or more bodies or particles come together with a resulting change of direction and, normally, energy

---

Other Word Forms

• anticollision adjective
• collisional adjective

Etymology

Origin of collision

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin collīsiōn- (stem of collīsiō ), equivalent to collīs ( us ) (past participle of collīdere to collide ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

Videos on social media have documented the outage, with one appearing to show it resulting in a highway collision, although police said no injuries had been reported and passengers exited their vehicles safely.

From BBC

A fatal collision at LaGuardia Airport last week marked the start of a difficult period for Air Canada, culminating on Monday with its CEO announcing he will soon retire.

From BBC

Woods told authorities he was looking down at his phone while changing radio stations and did not realise the truck in front of him had slowed down before the collision.

From BBC

But by identifying those overlapping circles of interest, they might just find a way to exit on the other side without a collision.

From The Wall Street Journal

Clare wove through the mob, leaping and ducking to avoid collision.

From Literature