collapse into

collapse into (something)

1. To physically drop or fall into something. Once Sarah crossed the finish line, she collapsed into her boyfriend's arms. After I got home from a 12-hour day at work, I collapsed into a comfy chair and dozed off.
2. To abruptly enter a negative state, such as a depression. After I lost my job, I collapsed into a serious depression. Economists have been warning that the country could collapse into another recession if preventative measures are not taken.
See also: collapse
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

collapse into something

 
1. Lit. to fall down into something with suddenness, as if out of energy. She was so tired, she collapsed into the chair. Juan collapsed into a chair and fell fast asleep.
2. Fig. [for someone] to fall into a particular kind of despair. The poor man collapsed into a deep depression. Scott collapsed into his own personal brand of grieving.
See also: collapse
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • collapse
  • collapse into (something)
  • grapple
  • grappling
  • suck (someone or something) into (something)
  • suck into
  • a guy thing
  • guy thing
  • brace (oneself) for (something)
  • brace oneself for
References in periodicals archive
Recent theoretical work suggests that a sufficiently large number of lithium atoms congregated in a state of matter known as a Bose-Einstein condensate can likewise collapse into a denser state, then explode.
Quantum collapse of an atomic cluster
Bruno Bettelheim, himself a prisoner at Dachau, observed these figures in his 1960 Informed Heart and recorded in detail their psychic collapse into what came to be called Musselmanner (because their passivity fit the European image of "fanatical" Muslims).
Judge dread
The notion of stellar winds associated with newborn stars -- whatever their origin -- provides a plausible, though controversial, explanation for why all the mass of a molecular cloud doesn't collapse into stars.
The winds of starbirth: stellar winds may play a crucial role in the formation of sun-like stars
Normally, the faint light emitted by clouds just starting to collapse into galaxies would be lost in the background light of the night sky.
Quasar light points to younger galaxies