elapse

American  

[ih-laps] / ɪˈlæps /

verb (used without object)

• elapses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• elapsed,
  past participle,  past
• elapsing
  present participle

1. (of time) to slip or pass by.

   Thirty minutes elapsed before the performance began.

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noun

1. the passage or termination of a period of time; lapse.

elapse British  

/ ɪˈlæps /

verb

1. (intr) (of time) to pass by

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unelapsed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• elapsing
  present
• elapsed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• elapse
  simple
• elapses
  simple
• have elapsed
  perfect
• has elapsed
  perfect
• am elapsing
  progressive
• are elapsing
  progressive
• is elapsing
  progressive
• have been elapsing
  perfect progressive
• has been elapsing
  perfect progressive

Past

• elapsed
  simple
• had elapsed
  perfect
• was elapsing
  progressive
• were elapsing
  progressive
• had been elapsing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will elapse
  simple
• will have elapsed
  perfect
• will be elapsing
  progressive
• will have been elapsing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of elapse

1635–45; < Latin ēlapsus (past participle of ēlābī to slip away), equivalent to e- e- ¹ + lab- slip + -sus for -tus past participle suffix

Explanation

When time passes by, you say it elapses. Four years elapse while you are in high school. Nine months elapse while you are in the womb. If two weeks have elapsed between your tennis lessons, there has been a two-week lapse between sessions. The word elapse comes from the Latin word elabi which means "to slip away." Time is one of those things that really does tend to slip away, unless you're sitting through a lecture on the nature of time. Then, it might feel like years elapse when really it is just a few minutes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

elapse elapses elapsed elapsing

You may even die before those nearly two decades elapse, so you would have lost out on all that extra loot.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026

But the argument of the play doesn’t so much build as elapse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026

But the repercussions will reverberate for some time: at least 12 months must elapse from the last case to regain the important fever-free status.

From Barron's ● Dec. 2, 2025

"It therefore seems likely that many years will elapse before any such Crispr-based therapy becomes routine - even assuming that it can be shown to be effective."

From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2024

The principle had been discovered; but many, many years were to elapse before that principle was usefully applied.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

“The more time elapses, however, the more crucial Pickaxe mountain appears to Iran’s reconstitution effort.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Disciplinary complaints against a lawyer actually have no statute of limitations, although the more time that elapses, the more difficult it will be to prove/investigate.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 2, 2026

Unlike the GLP-1 hormone, which is rapidly metabolized by the body, semaglutide and similar medications have much longer half-lives, meaning the medication can build up inside the body if not enough time elapses between doses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2023

Players from Saracens and Sale who featured in the Premiership final will be added to the training squad once their five-week rest period elapses at the end of this week.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2023

A brief interval, and the curtain is again raised; but by no means so brief is the time that elapses in the progress of our tale—for this is no less than thirty years.

From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 8 by Various

The elapsed time from report of fire movement to issuance of the order was just over an hour, the report found.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

IHR said Mohammadi had 20 days to appeal under the law but warned there had in the past been cases of people being executed before this period elapsed.

From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026

By the time the agents shoved me into that unmarked SUV, three minutes and 30 seconds had elapsed.

From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2026

Marquee values for the E-Ray include an official 0-60 mph acceleration in 2.5 seconds and a ¼-mile elapsed time of 10.5 seconds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

Some time elapsed before, with all my efforts, I could comprehend my scholars and their nature.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

So we’re within a month now of the time elapsing on us.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025

With years often elapsing between the incident and inquest, Alexander said inquests often open wounds and “re-traumatize” the families.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 15, 2023

But he says that this was impossible because the allotted six months began elapsing as soon as the estate was put up for sale.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2023

“That time elapsing, in itself, really showed us our own shame.”

From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2021

Timing Machines:—Machines which record time directly on long-distance tickets are of value and machines which automatically compute the time elapsing during a conversation are of much greater value.

From Cyclopedia of Telephony and Telegraphy, Vol. 2 A General Reference Work on Telephony, etc. etc. by Samuel McMeen

Related Words

• expire
• pass by
• transpire