Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: Latin
Origin: collisio, from collidere; COLLIDE

collision

 noun
     
col‧li‧sion [uncountable and countable]
1 an accident in which two or more people or vehicles hit each other while moving in different directions [↪ collide]
collision with
The school bus was involved in a collision with a truck.
Two people were killed in a head-on collision (=between two vehicles that are moving directly towards each other) on highway 218.
2 a strong disagreement between two people or groups
collision between
a collision between the two countries over fishing rights
3

be on a collision course

a) to be likely to have serious trouble because your aims are very different from someone else's:
The two nations are on a collision course that could lead to war.
b) to be moving in a direction in which you will hit something:
an asteroid on a collision course with Earth
WORD FOCUS: accident WORD FOCUS: accident
similar words: crash, wreck American English, pile-up, collision, disaster, catastrophe

➔ See also accident
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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