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Definition of Lapse
1. Verb. Pass into a specified state or condition. "He sank into nirvana"
2. Noun. A mistake resulting from inattention.
3. Verb. End, at least for a long time. "The correspondence lapsed"
4. Noun. A break or intermission in the occurrence of something. "A lapse of three weeks between letters"
5. Verb. Drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards.
Generic synonyms: Drop Away, Drop Off, Fall Away, Slip
Derivative terms: Backslider
6. Noun. A failure to maintain a higher state.
Generic synonyms: Failure
Specialized synonyms: Recidivism
Derivative terms: Relapse, Relapse, Relapse, Revert
7. Verb. Go back to bad behavior. "Those who recidivate are often minor criminals"
Generic synonyms: Regress, Retrovert, Return, Revert, Turn Back
Derivative terms: Recidivism, Relapse, Relapsing
8. Verb. Let slip. "He lapsed his membership"
9. Verb. Pass by. "Three years elapsed"
Generic synonyms: Advance, Go On, March On, Move On, Pass On, Progress
Specialized synonyms: Fell, Fly, Vanish
Definition of Lapse
1. n. A gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or imperceptible progress or passing away,; -- restricted usually to immaterial things, or to figurative uses.
2. v. i. To pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away; to slip downward, backward, or away; to glide; -- mostly restricted to figurative uses.
3. v. t. To let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to pass.
Definition of Lapse
1. Noun. A temporary failure; a slip. ¹
2. Noun. A decline or fall in standards. ¹
3. Noun. A pause in continuity. ¹
4. Noun. An interval of time between events. ¹
5. Noun. A termination of a right etc, through disuse or neglect. ¹
6. Noun. (weather) A marked decrease in air temperature with increasing altitude because the ground is warmer than the surrounding air. This condition usually occurs when skies are clear and between 1100 and 1600 hours, local time. Strong convection currents exist during lapse conditions. For chemical operations, the state is defined as unstable. This condition is normally considered the most unfavorable for the release of chemical agents. See lapse rate. ¹
7. Noun. (legal) A common-law rule that if the person to whom property is willed were to die before the testator, then the gift would be ineffective. ¹
8. Verb. (intransitive) To fall away gradually; to subside ¹
9. Verb. (intransitive) To fall into error or heresy ¹
10. Verb. To slip into a bad habit that one is trying to avoid. ¹
11. Verb. (intransitive) To become void ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Lapse
1. to fall from a previous standard [v LAPSED, LAPSING, LAPSES] : LAPSABLE, LAPSIBLE [adj]
Medical Definition of Lapse
1. 1. A gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or imperceptible progress or passing away,; restricted usually to immaterial things, or to figurative uses. "The lapse to indolence is soft and imperceptible." (Rambler) "Bacon was content to wait the lapse of long centuries for his expected revenue of fame." (I. Taylor) 2. A slip; an error; a fault; a failing in duty; a slight deviation from truth or rectitude. "To guard against those lapses and failings to which our infirmities daily expose us." (Rogers) 3. The termination of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it within the limited time, or through failure of some contingency; hence, the devolution of a right or privilege. 4. A fall or apostasy. Origin: L. Lapsus, fr. Labi, p. P. Lapsus, to slide, to fall: cf. F. Laps. See Sleep. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Lapse
Literary usage of Lapse
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Principles of the English Law of Contract and of Agency in Its Relation to by William Reynell Anson (1906)
"Offer creates no legal rights until acceptance, but may lapse or be revoked. 43.
lapse and revocation of offer. Acceptance is to offer what a lighted match ..."
2. The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or, The Preservation of by Charles Darwin (1900)
"On the absence of intermediate varieties at. the present day—On the nature of
extinct intermediate varieties; on their number— On the lapse of time, ..."
3. The Cambridge Modern History by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton Acton, Adolphus William Ward, George Walter Prothero, Ernest Alfred Benians (1909)
"But he made it clear that in addition to these limitations, he would only, as a
general principle, apply the rule of lapse to those Hindu principalities ..."
4. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery: During by Great Britain Court of Chancery, Edward Thurlow Thurlow, Alexander Wedderburn Rosslyn, Jonathan Cogswell Perkins (1845)
"Executor takes all, not meant to be disposed of; not all, that is not disposed
of; as in the case of lapse; or being appointed Executor in trust, ..."
5. Commentaries on the Laws of England by William Blackstone, William Carey Jones (1915)
"7 lapse of time does not bar the sovereign.—From the doctrine embodied ij the
maxim, nullum tempus occurrit regi, it followed that not only the civil claims ..."
6. South Eastern Reporter by West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, West Publishing Company, South Carolina Supreme Court (1906)
"PAYMENT—PRESUMPTIONS—lapse OF TIME. Presumption of payment arising from lapse of
time is repelled by evidence of nonpayment, and on the issue facts ..."
7. Elements of International Law by Henry Wheaton (1866)
"The effect of lapse of time doubtless rests on the same general reason in the one
... It will be found, that, where lapse of time is invoked as a ..."
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