From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
give way
v 1: move in order to make room for someone for something; "The
park gave way to a supermarket"; "`Move over,' he told the
crowd" [syn: move over, give way, give, ease up,
yield]
2: break down, literally or metaphorically; "The wall
collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The
roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave
under the weight of the ice" [syn: collapse, fall in,
cave in, give, give way, break, founder]
3: end resistance, as under pressure or force; "The door yielded
to repeated blows with a battering ram" [syn: give way,
yield]
4: stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went";
"The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke
down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The
engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after
the accident" [syn: fail, go bad, give way, die,
give out, conk out, go, break, break down]