lapse

(lăps)

1. a. To fall from a previous level or standard, as of accomplishment, quality, or conduct: lapse into bad habits; a team that lapsed into mediocrity halfway through the season.
   b. To deviate from a prescribed or accepted way: lapse into heresy.
   c. To pass gradually or smoothly; slip: lapse into reverie.
2. a. To come to an end, especially gradually or temporarily: He realized that his attention had lapsed and he hadn't heard the assignment.
   b. To be no longer valid or active; expire: She allowed her membership to lapse after the first year.
3. Law To pass to another through neglect or omission. Used of a right or privilege, a benefice, or an estate.
4. To go by; elapse: Years had lapsed since we last met.

1. The act or an instance of lapsing, as:
   a. A usually minor or temporary failure; a slip: a lapse of memory; a lapse in judgment.
   b. A deterioration or decline: a lapse into barbarism.
   c. A moral fall: a lapse from grace.
2. A break in continuity; a pause: a lapse in the conversation.
3. A period of time; an interval: a lapse of several years between the two revolutions.
4. Law The termination of a right or privilege through disuse, neglect, or death.

Related Forms:

• lapsˈer noun