Relapse is to return to a prior condition, or to have an illness or addiction reoccur.
(verb)The definition of a relapse is a backsliding or a situation where a person who was getting better returns to a worse state.
(noun)When cancer you thought was cured comes back, the return of the cancer is an example of a relapse.
See relapse in Webster's New World College Dictionary
intransitive verb relapsed, relapsing
Origin: < L relapsus, pp. of relabi, to slip or slide back: see re- & lapse
noun
Related Forms:
See relapse in American Heritage Dictionary 4
intransitive verb re·lapsed, re·laps·ing, re·laps·es
Origin:
Origin: Middle English relapsen, to forswear
Origin: , from Latin relābī, relāps-, to fall back gradually
Origin: : re-, re-
Origin: + lābī, to slide
.Related Forms:
Learn more about relapse