lapse
noun
an accidental or temporary decline or deviation from an expected or accepted condition or state; a temporary falling or slipping from a previous standard.
are lapsing
-
present progressiveof lapse.present progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or state that is currently taking place in the immediate present.
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.
Fearful of losing out on tenure or research grants by taking the "wrong" stand on the issue, some junior researchers are lapsing into monklike silence.
From Time Magazine Archive
"That's all we ever hear," complains Third Baseman Doug DeCinces, 36, one of eight veterans whose contracts are lapsing.
From Time Magazine Archive
Slowly but surely we are lapsing into Bullo-doodledom, with a momentary preponderance of Bull.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 11, No. 25, April, 1873 by Various
Lands once under high cultivation are lapsing into jungle.
From The English in the West Indies or, The Bow of Ulysses by James Anthony Froude
Annually the leases are lapsing, and piles of building bricks begin to appear in grounds once verdant with close-cut lawn grass, and copsed with roses and rhododendrons.
From The Child Wife by Mayne Reid
