lapse
Americannoun
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an accidental or temporary decline or deviation from an expected or accepted condition or state; a temporary falling or slipping from a previous standard.
a lapse of justice.
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a slip or error, often of a trivial sort; failure.
a lapse of memory.
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an interval or passage of time; elapsed period.
a lapse of ten minutes before the program resumed.
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a moral fall, as from rectitude or virtue.
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a fall or decline to a lower grade, condition, or degree; descent; regression.
a lapse into savagery.
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the act of falling, slipping, sliding, etc., slowly or by degrees.
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a falling into disuse.
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Insurance. discontinuance of coverage resulting from nonpayment of a premium; termination of a policy.
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Law. the termination of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it or through failure of some contingency.
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Meteorology. lapse rate.
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Archaic. a gentle, downward flow, as of water.
verb (used without object)
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to fall or deviate from a previous standard; fail to maintain a normative level.
Toward the end of the book the author lapsed into bad prose.
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to come to an end; stop.
We let our subscription to that magazine lapse.
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to fall, slip, or sink; subside.
to lapse into silence.
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to fall into disuse.
The custom lapsed after a period of time.
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to deviate or abandon principles, beliefs, etc..
to lapse into heresy.
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to fall spiritually, as an apostate.
to lapse from grace.
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to pass away, as time; elapse.
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Law. to become void, as a legacy to someone who dies before the testator.
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to cease being in force; terminate.
Your insurance policy will lapse after 30 days.
noun
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a drop in standard of an isolated or temporary nature
a lapse of justice
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a break in occurrence, usage, etc
a lapse of five weeks between letters
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a gradual decline or a drop to a lower degree, condition, or state
a lapse from high office
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a moral fall
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law the termination of some right, interest, or privilege, as by neglecting to exercise it or through failure of some contingency
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insurance the termination of coverage following a failure to pay the premiums
verb
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to drop in standard or fail to maintain a norm
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to decline gradually or fall in status, condition, etc
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to be discontinued, esp through negligence or other failure
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(usually foll by into) to drift or slide (into a condition)
to lapse into sleep
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(often foll by from) to turn away (from beliefs or norms)
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law (of a devise or bequest) to become void, as on the beneficiary's predeceasing the testator
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(of time) to slip away
Other Word Forms
- lapsable adjective
- lapsed adjective
- lapser noun
- unlapsing adjective
Etymology
Origin of lapse
1520–30; < Latin lāpsus an error, slipping, failing, equivalent to lāb ( ī ) to slide, slip, fall, make a mistake + -sus, for -tus suffix of v. action
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A likely result of the changing landscape is the lapse of New START, which sets weapon limits and includes inspection systems.
From Barron's
It helps make up for my own lapses in staying in my lane.
But a failure to address the lapsing credits is expected to result in sticker shock across the state and the country.
From Los Angeles Times
Chairwoman Louisa Munton said his actions "could not be reasonably considered as trivial, inconsequential or a mere temporary lapse" and constituted "unacceptable professional conduct and or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute".
From BBC
Its surprising success had a huge impact on Bethesda Softworks, the developer of its source material, bringing back lapsed players and creating new ones along the way.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
