倒とう壊かい

と

う

か

い

Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb

collapse; destruction; crumbling

Used primarily for buildings, structures, or large objects falling down or being destroyed, often due to earthquakes, aging, or force.

地じ震しんで多おおくの建たて物ものが倒とう壊かいした。
Many buildings collapsed in the earthquake.

老ろう朽きゅう化かした橋はしが倒とう壊かいする危き険けんがある。

There is a risk that the aging bridge will collapse.

Written forms

倒とう壊かいUsage99%
Standard kanji spelling for collapse or destruction of buildings and structures.
倒とう潰かいUsage1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; 潰 is not a standard jōyō kanji for this word.

Kanji

倒overthrow, fall, collapse
壊demolition, break, destroy
潰crush, smash, break

Similar words

崩ほう壊かい
崩壊 also means collapse but is broader, covering abstract things like systems, relationships, or mental states, while 倒壊 is more physical and structural.
倒たおれる
倒れる is the general intransitive verb for falling over (people, trees, objects), while 倒壊 is a more formal noun/suru-verb for structural collapse.

Etymology

Compound of 倒 (tō, 'fall, collapse') and 壊 (kai, 'break, destroy'). The reading is on'yomi. The rare form 倒潰 uses 潰 (kai, 'crush, smash'), which is not a jōyō kanji for this word.