Lapse Definition
lăps
lapsed, lapses, lapsing
verb
lapsed, lapses, lapsing
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.
American Heritage
To make forfeit or void by not meeting standards.
Webster's New World
To slip or fall; esp., to slip into a specified state.
To lapse into a coma.
Webster's New World
To slip or deviate from a higher standard or fall into (former) erroneous ways; backslide.
Webster's New World
To stop practicing one's religion; lose or abandon one's faith.
A lapsed Catholic.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
noun
lapses
A slip of the tongue, pen, or memory; small error or failing.
Webster's New World
The act or an instance of lapsing, as:
American Heritage
A falling away from a moral standard; moral slip.
Webster's New World
A break in continuity; a pause.
A lapse in the conversation.
American Heritage
A falling or slipping into a lower or worse condition, esp. for a short time.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Origin of Lapse
Middle English lapsen to deviate from the normal from laps lapse of time, sin (from Old French lapse of time) (from Latin lāpsus) (from) (past participle of lābī to lapse) and from Latin lāpsāre frequentative of lābī
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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From Middle French laps, from Latin lapsus, from labi (“to slip").
From Wiktionary
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