inelastic collision: Meaning and Definition of

inelas'tic colli'sion

Pronunciation: [key]
— Mech. Mech.
  1. a collision in which the total kinetic energy of the colliding bodies or particles is not the same after the collision as it was before (opposed to elastic collision).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.