lapse

American  

[laps] / læps /

noun

• lapses
  plural

1. 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.

2. a slip or error, often of a trivial sort; failure.

   a lapse of memory.

3. an interval or passage of time; elapsed period.

   a lapse of ten minutes before the program resumed.

4. a moral fall, as from rectitude or virtue.

5. a fall or decline to a lower grade, condition, or degree; descent; regression.

   a lapse into savagery.

6. the act of falling, slipping, sliding, etc., slowly or by degrees.

7. a falling into disuse.

8. Insurance. discontinuance of coverage resulting from nonpayment of a premium; termination of a policy.

9. Law. the termination of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it or through failure of some contingency.

10. Meteorology. lapse rate.

11. Archaic. a gentle, downward flow, as of water.

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verb (used without object)

• lapses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lapsed,
  past participle,  past
• lapsing
  present participle

1. 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.

2. to come to an end; stop.

   We let our subscription to that magazine lapse.

3. to fall, slip, or sink; subside.

   to lapse into silence.

4. to fall into disuse.

   The custom lapsed after a period of time.

5. to deviate or abandon principles, beliefs, etc..

   to lapse into heresy.

6. to fall spiritually, as an apostate.

   to lapse from grace.

7. to pass away, as time; elapse.

8. Law. to become void, as a legacy to someone who dies before the testator.

9. to cease being in force; terminate.

   Your insurance policy will lapse after 30 days.

lapse British  

/ læps /

noun

1. a drop in standard of an isolated or temporary nature

   a lapse of justice

2. a break in occurrence, usage, etc

   a lapse of five weeks between letters

3. a gradual decline or a drop to a lower degree, condition, or state

   a lapse from high office

4. a moral fall

5. law the termination of some right, interest, or privilege, as by neglecting to exercise it or through failure of some contingency

6. insurance the termination of coverage following a failure to pay the premiums

---

verb

1. to drop in standard or fail to maintain a norm

2. to decline gradually or fall in status, condition, etc

3. to be discontinued, esp through negligence or other failure

4. (usually foll by into) to drift or slide (into a condition)

   to lapse into sleep

5. (often foll by from) to turn away (from beliefs or norms)

6. law (of a devise or bequest) to become void, as on the beneficiary's predeceasing the testator

7. (of time) to slip away

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lapser
  noun
• lapsable
  adjective
• lapsed
  adjective
• unlapsing
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lapses
  plural

Participles

• lapsing
  present
• lapsed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lapse
  simple
• lapses
  simple
• have lapsed
  perfect
• has lapsed
  perfect
• am lapsing
  progressive
• are lapsing
  progressive
• is lapsing
  progressive
• have been lapsing
  perfect progressive
• has been lapsing
  perfect progressive

Past

• lapsed
  simple
• had lapsed
  perfect
• was lapsing
  progressive
• were lapsing
  progressive
• had been lapsing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lapse
  simple
• will have lapsed
  perfect
• will be lapsing
  progressive
• will have been lapsing
  perfect progressive

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

Explanation

A lapse is a temporary slip, failure or break in continuity. If you’re normally polite, a lapse in manners could make you forget to say “please” and “thank you.” First used to imply a “slip of the memory,” the noun lapse evolved in the sixteenth century from the Latin lapsus, meaning “a slipping and falling, falling into error.” The connotation of “a moral slip” developed later, and the verb form came into existence even later than that. Behaving badly one day when you're usually on your best behavior is a lapse; behaving badly again after a short stint being well-mannered means you're lapsing back into nasty old habits.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lapse lapses lapsed lapsing

The Escape Artist: In many of these recent cases, the models were given access to the internet, a surprising lapse from the testers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

“This was not impulsive conduct or a momentary lapse in judgment,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

A lapse in concentration saw Djokovic drop serve towards the end of the second set and Auger-Aliassime levelled the tie - at which point the roof was closed, despite both players protesting against it.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Kroencke, a medic, approached the woman and attempted to soothe her, concerned that she might lapse into shock.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

His eyes were wild, his jaw clenched in acute restraint, yet he didn’t lapse from his perfect articulation.

From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

Rangers were flailing in the opening 45 minutes as Jagiellonia cut them open with ease, capitalising on numerous lapses in concentration.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

“This pattern indicates broader problems in the facility’s health care delivery system rather than occasional lapses in care,” Anandkumar said in his report.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Regulators often inquire about internal controls on information and have penalized banks when they have found lapses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Contemporary nations like Iran, Armenia, and Egypt can lay claim to being built on very old civilizations, but you could point out discontinuities and lapses in sovereignty in their histories that complicate the argument.

From Slate ● Jul. 4, 2026

I considered myself lucky if, after subtracting lapses from new business, there remained fifteen dollars that I could call my own.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

The life insurance company likely has no obligation to pay a lapsed policy.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

A lapsed Quaker and former foundry owner from Rhode Island with little previous military experience, Greene had become Washington’s most trusted lieutenant.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

He suggested the country would charge ships crossing the key passage after the 60-day period in the agreement had lapsed.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

It is uncertain whether renters will face rapidly rising rents now that the protection has lapsed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

“Well, 1 don’t know . . .” Herbie lapsed into silence.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

Washington Metro demonstrated how a public work can be both infrastructure and symbol without lapsing into overblown architectural propaganda.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

However, this protection comes with limited upside given that it does not eliminate the risk of either poor long-term performance or the policy lapsing.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026

I can’t eat pork or shellfish, so whatever falls within the electric fence, my lapsing Judaism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025

The release comes after the expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill extension on Sept. 30, 2023, leaving many programs under the bill vulnerable to lapsing as the year-end deadline approaches.

From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2024

Grown-ups flinch like misbehaving kids, guiltily lapsing into silence.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater

Related Words

• blunder
• breach
• crime
• error
• failing
• failure
• fault
• indiscretion
• miscue
• negligence
• offense
• omission
• oversight
• sin
• transgression
• violation