elapse
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
elapsesimple
-
elapsessimple
-
have elapsedperfect
-
has elapsedperfect
-
am elapsingprogressive
-
are elapsingprogressive
-
is elapsingprogressive
-
have been elapsingperfect progressive
-
has been elapsingperfect progressive
Past
-
elapsedsimple
-
had elapsedperfect
-
was elapsingprogressive
-
were elapsingprogressive
-
had been elapsingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing elapse
A Doll's House
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"The Math Instinct," Vocabulary from the math essay
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Beowulf: A New Telling
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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.
See Examples For:
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 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
They also face obstacles such as states’ statutes of limitations that may elapse before the patients sour on their transitions.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 5, 2023
Whoever spotted Asmodeus was to report, after letting one minute elapse, to Matthias, who was positioned roughly at the center of the line.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
“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
They want the debate to occur inside a TV studio, with microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker’s time limit elapses.
From New York Times ● May 15, 2024
MPs have a time limit to vote during a division and doorkeepers are instructed to lock the doors to the voting lobby once this elapses.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2024
I cannot help feeling anxious when such a space elapses without receiving a line, but I have no reason to complain.
From Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams by Adams, Abigail
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
I had tried to telegraph to the group that coming back was not a given, and I think the fact that a long time that elapsed also made that clear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2025
After my ten minutes were elapsed I clambered up onto the carpet and dried off.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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
"When the time starts elapsing because you can't get to someone, we know their outcomes will be worse - and that really gets to us."
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2023
“That time elapsing, in itself, really showed us our own shame.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2021
The time elapsing after firing before the miner returns to the working face or fires another shot should not be less for permissible explosives than for black powder.
From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXX, Dec. 1910 Federal Investigations of Mine Accidents, Structural Materials and Fuels. Paper No. 1171 by Wilson, Herbert M.
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.
