lapse
(l
ps)
KEY
VERB:
lapsed
,
lapsˇing
,
lapsˇes
VERB:
intr.
-
- To fall from a previous level or standard, as of accomplishment, quality, or conduct:
lapse into bad habits; a team that lapsed into mediocrity halfway through the season.
- To deviate from a prescribed or accepted way:
lapse into heresy.
- To pass gradually or smoothly; slip:
lapse into reverie.
-
- To come to an end, especially gradually or temporarily:
He realized that his attention had lapsed and he hadn't heard the assignment.
- To be no longer valid or active; expire:
She allowed her membership to lapse after the first year.
-
Law
To pass to another through neglect or omission. Used of a right or privilege, a benefice, or an estate.
- To go by; elapse:
Years had lapsed since we last met.
VERB:
tr.
- To allow to lapse.
NOUN:
- The act or an instance of lapsing, as:
- A usually minor or temporary failure; a slip:
a lapse of memory; a lapse in judgment.
- A deterioration or decline:
a lapse into barbarism.
- A moral fall:
a lapse from grace.
- A break in continuity; a pause:
a lapse in the conversation.
- A period of time; an interval:
a lapse of several years between the two revolutions.
-
Law
The termination of a right or privilege through disuse, neglect, or death.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English
lapsen,
to deviate from the normal, from
laps,
lapse of time, sin (from Old French,
lapse of time, from Latin
l
psus, from past participle of
lb
,
to lapse), and from Latin
lpsre, frequentative of
lb,
to lapse
OTHER FORMS:
laps
er
(Noun)
