collapse vs fail

collapse

verb
  • To cease to function due to a sudden breakdown; to fail suddenly and completely. 

  • To break apart and fall down suddenly; to cave in. 

  • To fold compactly. 

  • To hide additional directory (folder) levels below the selected directory (folder) levels. When a folder contains no additional folders, a minus sign (-) appears next to the folder. 

  • To pass out and fall to the floor or ground, as from exhaustion or other illness; to faint. 

  • For several batsmen to get out in quick succession 

  • To cause something to collapse. 

noun
  • Constant function, one-valued function (in automata theory) (in particular application causing a reset). 

  • The act of collapsing. 

fail

verb
  • Of a machine, etc.: to cease to operate correctly. 

  • Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.) 

  • To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent. 

  • To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits. 

  • To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour. 

  • To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert; to disappoint one's expectations. 

  • To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence. 

  • To neglect. 

  • To be unsuccessful. 

noun
  • A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action). 

  • A failure (condition of being unsuccessful). 

  • A failing grade in an academic examination. 

  • Poor quality; substandard workmanship. 

  • A failure (something incapable of success). 

  • A piece of turf cut from grassland. 

adj
  • Unsuccessful; inadequate; unacceptable in some way. 

How often have the words collapse and fail occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )