Dictionary
lapse
Pronunciation: (laps), [key]
—n., v., lapsed, laps•ing.
—
n.
1. an accidental or temporary decline or deviation from an expected or accepted condition or state; a temporary falling or slipping from a previous standard:
a lapse of justice.
2. a slip or error, often of a trivial sort; failure:
a lapse of memory.
3. an interval or passage of time; elapsed period:
a lapse of ten minutes before the program resumed.
4. a moral fall, as from rectitude or virtue.
5. a fall or decline to a lower grade, condition, or degree; descent; regression:
a lapse into savagery.
6. the act of falling, slipping, sliding, etc., slowly or by degrees.
7. a falling into disuse.
8. Insurance.discontinuance of coverage resulting from nonpayment of a premium; termination of a policy.
9. Law.the termination of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it or through failure of some contingency.
10. Meteorol.See
lapse rate.
11. Archaic.a gentle, downward flow, as of water.
—
v.i.
1. to fall or deviate from a previous standard; fail to maintain a normative level:
Toward the end of the book the author lapsed into bad prose.
2. to come to an end; stop:
We let our subscription to that magazine lapse.
3. to fall, slip, or sink; subside:
to lapse into silence.
4. to fall into disuse:
The custom lapsed after a period of time.
5. to deviate or abandon principles, beliefs, etc.:
to lapse into heresy.
6. to fall spiritually, as an apostate:
to lapse from grace.
7. to pass away, as time; elapse.
8. Law.to become void, as a legacy to someone who dies before the testator.
9. to cease being in force; terminate:
Your insurance policy will lapse after 30 days. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
