Nearly caving in

[Skilpadda]

Oxford Dictionary of English sier

Sitat:

(cave in or (US) also cave) subside or collapse: the ceiling caved in | [with obj.] Len's club would have caved his skull in.

• yield or submit under pressure: the manager caved in to his demands.

Oxford Thesaurus of English:

Sitat:

cave in 1. the roof caved in collapse, fall in, give, give way, crumble, crumple, disintegrate, subside, fall down, sag, slump.
opposite: hold up.
2. the manager caved in to their demands yield, surrender, submit, succumb, back down, make concessions, capitulate, give up/in, raise/show the white flag; acquiesce, agree, concur, approve, assent; informal throw in the towel, throw in the sponge.

Kunnskapsforlagets Stor engelsk-norsk ordbok:

Sitat:

cave in
1 falle sammen, rase sammen, kollapse
2 trykke inn
3 (overført) gi etter, gi opp, bryte sammen

Selv om "the roof caved in" brukes som eksempel, synes jeg ikke det er opplagt at man ikke kan si "the wall caved in". En vegg kan jo fint rase sammen eller kollapse. Men jeg er ikke morsmålsbruker, og vet ikke om en sådan ville reagere på uttrykket i den sammenhengen.