lapse

[[t]læps[/t]]

n. v. lapsed, laps•ing

1) an accidental or temporary decline or deviation from an expected or accepted condition or state:

a lapse of justice[/ex]

2) a slip or error, often of a trivial sort:

a lapse of memory[/ex]

3) an interval or passage of time; elapsed period

4) a moral fall, as from rectitude or virtue

5) a fall or decline to a lower grade, condition, or degree:

a lapse into savagery[/ex]

6) the act of falling, slipping, sliding, etc., slowly or by degrees

7) a falling into disuse

8) bus termination of an insurance policy, due to nonpayment of a premium

9) law Law. the termination of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it or through failure of some contingency

10) mer

lapse rate

11) archaic a gentle, downward flow, as of water

12) to fall or deviate from a previous standard; fail to maintain a normative level

13) to come to an end; stop:

We let our subscription lapse[/ex]

14) to fall, slip, or sink; subside:

to lapse into silence[/ex]

15) to fall into disuse:

The custom lapsed after many years[/ex]

16) to deviate or abandon principles, beliefs, etc.:

to lapse into heresy[/ex]

17) to fall spiritually, as an apostate

18) to pass away, as time; elapse

19) bus (of an insurance policy) to cease being in force; terminate

20) law Law. to become void, as a legacy to someone who dies before the testator

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Etymology: 1520–30; < L lāpsus an error, slipping =lāb(ī) to slip, err +-sus, for -tus suffix of v. action laps′a•ble, laps′i•ble, adj.