Definition of lapse

noun (n)

• a mistake resulting from inattention (noun.act)

  Synonym: oversight
  

  source: wordnet30
• a break or intermission in the occurrence of something (noun.time)

  Example:
  A lapse of three weeks between letters.
  

  source: wordnet30
• a failure to maintain a higher state (noun.act)

  Synonym: backsliding, lapsing, relapse, relapsing, reversion, reverting
  

  source: wordnet30
• A gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or imperceptible progress or passing away,; -- restricted usually to immaterial things, or to figurative uses. (noun)

  source: webster1913

verb (v)

• pass into a specified state or condition (verb.motion)

  Synonym: pass, sink
  

  source: wordnet30
• end, at least for a long time (verb.change)

  Example:
  The correspondence lapsed.
  

  source: wordnet30
• drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards (verb.change)

  Synonym: backslide
  

  source: wordnet30
• go back to bad behavior (verb.body)

  Synonym: fall back, recidivate, regress, relapse, retrogress
  

  source: wordnet30
• let slip (verb.possession)

  Example:
  He lapsed his membership.
  

  source: wordnet30
• pass by (verb.motion)

  Synonym: elapse, glide by, go along, go by, pass, slide by, slip away, slip by
  

  Example:
  Three years elapsed.
  

  source: wordnet30
• To pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away; to slip downward, backward, or away; to glide; -- mostly restricted to figurative uses. (verb)

  source: webster1913
• To let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to pass. (verb)

  source: webster1913

Visual Synonyms (Thesaurus)

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