lapse

Meaning

Noun

1. A temporary failure; a slip.
2. A decline or fall in standards.
3. A pause in continuity.
4. An interval of time between events.
5. A termination of a right etc., through disuse or neglect.
6. A marked decrease in air temperature with increasing altitude because the ground is warmer than the surrounding air.
7. A common-law rule that if the person to whom property is willed were to die before the testator, then the gift would be ineffective.
8. A fall or apostasy.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To fall away gradually; to subside.
2. (intransitive) To fall into error or heresy.
3. To slip into a bad habit that one is trying to avoid.
4. (intransitive) To become void.
5. To fall or pass from one proprietor to another, or from the original destination, by the omission, negligence, or failure of somebody, such as a patron or legatee.

Synonyms

mistake

pass

error

fault

slip

fall

gaffe

blunder

sink

expiration

expire

relapse

failure

backsliding

slip away

go by

oversight

break

elapse

flaw

gap

interval

lapsing

slip by

glide by

slide by

abatement

passing away

reverting

retrogress

reversion

termination

end

🔚

backslide

recidivate

regress

annihilation

pass away

passing

go along

goof

fall back

bungle

prescribe

relapsing

decrease

crash

bloomer

course

collapse

Translations

lapso

lapsus

lapso

faute

erreur

terugvallen

pasar

errore

retomber

σφάλλω

passer

verfließen

gaffe

ολίσθημα

πταίσμα

Pronounced as (IPA)

/læps/

Etymology

From Middle French laps, from Latin lāpsus, from lābī (“to slip”). Doublet of lapsus.