French word

effondrer

Pronunciation

IPA/efɔ̃dʁe/

Meaning

  • verbknock down

Example

Ils ont effondré le vieux mur pour agrandir la chambre.

They knocked down the old wall to make the room bigger.

Illustration for effondrer (knock down)

More examples

Sa défense s'est effondrée face à la preuve.

His defense collapsed in the face of the evidence.

Core concept

A wall loses its support and crashes down, like a person's morale or position collapsing under pressure.

Common phrases

  • effondrer un mur

    demolish a wall

  • effondrer quelqu'un

    knock someone down

  • s'effondrer sous le poids

    collapse under the weight

Similar words

s'effondrer: Fall apart suddenly after its support is lost.
démolir: Deliberately tear down and remove a building or structure.
faire tomber: Cause an object to fall or topple over.

Definition in French

Provoquer la chute ou l'écroulement d'une construction ou d'un mur ; au figuré, abattre moralement ou réfuter complètement quelqu'un.

Word origin

Effondrer comes through Old French esfondrer from Latin exfundare, formed with ex- 'out' and fundus 'bottom'.

Usage tips

  • Effondrer is transitive, while a building's own collapse uses s'effondrer: Le mur s'est effondré.

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word