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lapse

[ laps ]
/ læps /
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noun
verb (used without object), lapsed, laps·ing.
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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

OTHER WORDS FROM lapse

lapser, nounun·laps·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lapse in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lapse

lapse
/ (læps) /

noun
verb (intr)

Derived forms of lapse

lapsable or lapsible, adjectivelapsed, adjectivelapser, noun

Word Origin for lapse

C15: from Latin lāpsus error, from lābī to glide
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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