elapse

Elapse is defined as to pass by.

(verb)

An example of elapse is for 45 minutes to go by while sitting in a waiting room.

See elapse in Webster's New World College Dictionary

intransitive verb elapsed, elapsing

to slip by; pass: said of time

Origin: < L elapsus, pp. of elabi, to glide away < e-, out + labi, to glide, fall: see labor

See elapse in American Heritage Dictionary 4

intransitive verb e·lapsed, e·laps·ing, e·laps·es

To slip by; pass: Weeks elapsed before we could start renovating.

noun

Passage; lapse: met again after an elapse of many years.

Origin:

Origin: Latin ēlābī, ēlāps-

Origin: : ē-, ex-, ex-

Origin: + lābī, to slip

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