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lapse

Pronunciation: /laps/

Translate lapse | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of lapse

noun

  • 1a brief or temporary failure of concentration, memory, or judgement:a lapse of concentration in the second set cost her the match
  • a decline from previously high standards:tracing his lapse into petty crime
  • Law the termination of a right or privilege through disuse or failure to follow appropriate procedures.
  • 2an interval or passage of time:there was a considerable lapse of time between the two events

verb

[no object]
  • 1(of a right, privilege, or agreement) become invalid because it is not used, claimed, or renewed; expire:he let his membership of CND lapse
  • (of a state or activity) fail to be maintained; come to an end:if your diet has lapsed it’s time you revived it
  • cease to follow the rules and practices of a religion or doctrine: many Christians in Britain have lapsed
  • 2 (lapse into) pass gradually into (an inferior state or condition):the country has lapsed into chaos
  • revert to (a previous or more familiar style of speaking or behaviour):the girls lapsed into French

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin lapsus, from labi 'to glide, slip, or fall'; the verb reinforced by Latin lapsare 'to slip or stumble'

lapse in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of lapse in the US English dictionary

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