lapse

lapse
—lapser, n.
/laps/, n., v., lapsed, lapsing.
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.
12. 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.
13. to come to an end; stop: We let our subscription to that magazine lapse.
14. to fall, slip, or sink; subside: to lapse into silence.
15. to fall into disuse: The custom lapsed after a period of time.
16. to deviate or abandon principles, beliefs, etc.: to lapse into heresy.
17. to fall spiritually, as an apostate: to lapse from grace.
18. to pass away, as time; elapse.
19. Law. to become void, as a legacy to someone who dies before the testator.
20. to cease being in force; terminate: Your insurance policy will lapse after 30 days.
[1520-30; < L lapsus an error, slipping, failing, equiv. to lab(i) to slide, slip, fall, make a mistake + -sus, for -tus suffix of v. action]

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • lapse — 1 / laps/ n: a termination or failure due to events, neglect, or time: as a: the failure of a bequest (as because the intended recipient dies before the testator) compare anti lapse statute b: the termination of an insurance policy because of… …   Law dictionary

  • lapse — n 1 slip, *error, mistake, blunder, faux pas, bull, howler, boner Analogous words: *offense, sin, vice, crime: *fault, failing, frailty, foible: transgression, *breach, violation, trespass 2 relapse, backsliding (see under LAPSE vb) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Lapse — (l[a^]ps), n. [L. lapsus, fr. labi, p. p. lapsus, to slide, to fall: cf. F. laps. See {Sleep}.] 1. A gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or imperceptible progress or passing away,; restricted usually to immaterial things, or to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Lapse — Lapse, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Lapsed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Lapsing}.] 1. To pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away; to slip downward, backward, or away; to glide; mostly restricted to figurative uses. [1913 Webster] A tendency to lapse… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • lapse — [n1] mistake blunder, breach, bungle, crime, error, failing, failure, fault, flub, foible, frailty, gaff, goof, goof up*, indiscretion, miscue, negligence, offense, omission, oversight, screw up*, sin, slip, slip up, transgression, trespass,… …   New thesaurus

  • Lapse — Lapse, v. t. 1. To let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to pass. [1913 Webster] An appeal may be deserted by the appellant s lapsing the term of law. Ayliffe. [1913 Webster] 2. To surprise in a fault or error; hence, to surprise or …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • lapse — ► NOUN 1) a brief failure of concentration, memory, or judgement. 2) a decline from previously high standards. 3) an interval of time. 4) Law the termination of a right or privilege through disuse or failure to follow appropriate procedures. ►… …   English terms dictionary

  • lapse — [laps] n. [L lapsus, a fall: see LAP1] 1. a slip of the tongue, pen, or memory; small error; fault 2. a) a falling away from a moral standard; moral slip b) a falling or slipping into a lower or worse condition, esp. for a short time 3 …   English World dictionary

  • lapse — relapse …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • lapse — ▪ I. lapse lapse 1 [læps] verb [intransitive] 1. COMMERCE if a contract, agreement, or offer lapses, it ends because an agreed time limit has passed: • The customer has the right to exercise the option or allow the option to lapse. • There are… …   Financial and business terms

  • lapse — lapse1 [læps] n [Date: 1300 1400; : Latin; Origin: lapsus, from labi to slip ] 1.) a short period of time during which you fail to do something well or properly, often caused by not being careful momentary/temporary/occasional etc lapse ▪ Despite …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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