lapse.
A temporary failure; a slip.
Meaning & usage
A temporary failure; a slip.
memory lapse
It was a regrettable lapse by a person of otherwise exemplary character.
A decline or fall in standards.
A pause in continuity.
An interval of time between events.
A termination of a right etc., through disuse or neglect.
A marked decrease in air temperature with increasing altitude because the ground is warmer than the surrounding air.
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.
A fall or apostasy.
Where this word comes from
From Middle French laps, from Latin lāpsus, from lābī (“to slip”). Doublet of lapsus.
To fall away gradually; to subside.
To fall into error or heresy.
To slip into a bad habit that one is trying to avoid.
To become void.
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.
Where this word comes from
From Middle French laps, from Latin lāpsus, from lābī (“to slip”). Doublet of lapsus.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.