Collocations for empire - noun

big, great, large, mighty, vast
powerful
far-flung
colonial, overseas
the decline of the old colonial empires

world
ancient
Ottoman, Roman, etc.

establish, found
destroy, dismantle
The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled.

expand, extend
rule
lose
By now Britain had lost its empire.

grow
collapse, crumble, fall, fall apart
The mighty empire finally crumbled.

building
builder

the break-up of an empire, the decline of an empire, the fall of an empire
part of an empire
a country that is still part of the empire

big, huge, large, vast
little (figurative)
All the bureaucrats jealously guarded their own little empires.

business, commercial, financial, industrial, media
global

build, build up, create
He has built a huge business empire from humble beginnings.

expand
run
the staff who help run his hotel empire

collapse, crumble

the collapse of an empire