collapsible

UK/kəˈlæps.ə.bəl/US/kəˈlæps.ə.bəl/

adjectiveB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,282 of 15,258leans written

Collapsible means able to be folded flat when empty. A collapsible crate, collapsible chairs, it is fully collapsible.

The saving is in the return journey: empty containers cost as much to ship as full ones unless they fold, which is why collapsible crates matter in logistics. Note the -ible ending, which follows the Latin verb rather than the -able of native words.

Definitions of collapsible

1adjectivecollapsibleAble to be folded flat when empty.B2+
“She packed a collapsible bowl for the dog, which squashes down to fit in her pocket.”

collapsible is a quality of design.

Where it comes from

Latin
collāpsus
English
collapse
English, today
collapsible

From collapse + -ible. collapse comes from Latin collāpsus (past participle of collābor).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Containers & Packaging

Practise this word

collapsible in the wild

Gracie survived the sinking of the Titanic by climbing aboard an overturned collapsible lifeboat and wrote a popular book about the disaster.
Archibald Gracie IV
A tube, squeeze tube, or collapsible tube is a collapsible package which can be used for viscous liquids such as toothpaste, artist's paint, adhesive, caulk, & ointments.
Tube (container)
Although the number of lifeboats was insufficient, Titanic in fact complied with maritime safety regulations at the time and even went over regulations by adding four collapsibles.
Lifeboats of the Titanic

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the collāpsus family

collapse

collapsible — used about once every 13,270 pages · #12,282 · point at the bar for the others

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