[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

lapse \lapse\, v. t.
   1. to let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to
      pass.
      1913 webster

            an appeal may be deserted by the appellant's lapsing
            the term of law.                      --ayliffe.
      1913 webster

   2. to surprise in a fault or error; hence, to surprise or
      catch, as an offender. obs.
      1913 webster

            for which, if be lapsed in this place,
            i shall pay dear.                     --shak.
      1913 webster

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

lapse \lapse\, v. i. imp.  p. p. lapsed; p. pr.  vb. n.
   lapsing.
   1. to pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away;
      to slip downward, backward, or away; to glide; -- mostly
      restricted to figurative uses.
      1913 webster

            a tendency to lapse into the barbarity of those
            northern nations from whom we are descended.
                                                  --swift.
      1913 webster

            homer, in his characters of vulcan and thersites,
            has lapsed into the burlesque character. --addison.
      1913 webster

   2. to slide or slip in moral conduct; to fail in duty; to
      fall from virtue; to deviate from rectitude; to commit a
      fault by inadvertence or mistake.
      1913 webster

            to lapse in fullness
            is sorer than to lie for need.        --shak.
      1913 webster

   3. law
      a to fall or pass from one proprietor to another, or
          from the original destination, by the omission,
          negligence, or failure of some one, as a patron, a
          legatee, etc.
      b to become ineffectual or void; to fall.
          1913 webster

                if the archbishop shall not fill it up within
                six months ensuing, it lapses to the king.
                                                  --ayliffe.
          1913 webster
see also:
lapsed lapsing 

[3] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

lapse \lapse\ la^ps, n. l. lapsus, fr. labi, p. p. lapsus,
   to slide, to fall: cf. f. laps. see sleep.
   1. a gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or
      imperceptible progress or passing away,; -- restricted
      usually to immaterial things, or to figurative uses.
      1913 webster

            the lapse to indolence is soft and imperceptible.
                                                  --rambler.
      1913 webster

            bacon was content to wait the lapse of long
            centuries for his expected revenue of fame. --i.
                                                  taylor.
      1913 webster

   2. a slip; an error; a fault; a failing in duty; a slight
      deviation from truth or rectitude.
      1913 webster

            to guard against those lapses and failings to which
            our infirmities daily expose us.      --rogers.
      1913 webster

   3. law the termination of a right or privilege through
      neglect to exercise it within the limited time, or through
      failure of some contingency; hence, the devolution of a
      right or privilege.
      1913 webster

   4. theol. a fall or apostasy.
      1913 webster
see also:
sleep 

[4] : WordNet (r) 2.0

lapse
     n 1: a mistake resulting from inattention syn: oversight
     2: a break or intermission in the occurrence of something; "a
        lapse of three weeks between letters"
     3: a failure to maintain a higher state syn: backsliding, lapsing,
         relapse, relapsing, reversion, reverting
     v 1: pass into a specified state or condition; "he sank into
          nirvana" syn: sink, pass
     2: end, at least for a long time; "the correspondence lapsed"
     3: drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards syn:
         backslide
     4: go back to bad behavior; "those who recidivate are often
        minor criminals" syn: relapse, recidivate, regress,
         retrogress, fall back
     5: let slip; "he lapsed his membership"
     6: pass by; "three years elapsed" syn: elapse, pass, slip
        by, glide by, slip away, go by, slide by, go
        along
see also:
oversight backsliding lapsing relapse relapsing reversion 
reverting sink pass backslide recidivate 
regress retrogress fall back elapse slip by 
glide by slip away go by slide by go along 

[5] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

427 moby thesaurus words for "lapse":
   abeyance, about-face, advance, alchemy, apostasy, apostatize,
   assimilation, assumption, atavism, atheism, atrocity, backing,
   backset, backslide, backsliding, backward deviation,
   backward motion, backward step, balk, be all over,
   be caught napping, be gone, be neglectful, be negligent,
   be no more, be past, become extinct, become void, becoming, bevue,
   blooper, blow over, blunder, boner, breach, break, bull, bungle,
   cadence, caesura, catabasis, catenary, cave, cave in, cease,
   cease-fire, cessation, change, change-over, close, closing, cock,
   collapse, comedown, continue, conversion, crash, crime,
   crime against humanity, culpa, culpable negligence, day off,
   deadly sin, debasement, decadence, decadency, deceleration,
   declension, declination, decline, decline and fall, decrescendo,
   decurrence, default, deformation, degeneracy, degenerate,
   degenerateness, degeneration, degradation, delinquency, demotion,
   depravation, depravedness, depreciation, dereliction, derogation,
   descend, descent, desertion, deteriorate, deterioration, deviate,
   devolution, die, die away, diminish, diminuendo, diminution,
   disappear, disenchantment, disregard, dive, downtrend, downturn,
   downward mobility, downward trend, droop, drop, dwindling, dying,
   ebb, effeteness, elapse, end, endure, enormity, err, error, evil,
   expire, fade, fading, fail, failing, failure, failure of nerve,
   fall, fall again into, fall astern, fall away, fall back,
   fall behind, fall from grace, fall into error, fall off,
   falling back, falling-off, false move, false step, fault, felony,
   flip-flop, flit, flop, flop down, flow, flow on, fluff, flump,
   flump down, fly, foible, founder, frailty, gap, genocide,
   get behind, give way, glide, gloss over, go amiss, go astray,
   go awry, go backwards, go behind, go by, go down, go downhill,
   go off, go on, go out, go wrong, goof, growth, guilty act,
   have a relapse, have it, have its time, have run out, heavy sin,
   hesitation, hiatus, hit a slump, hit rock bottom, hit the skids,
   hold-up, holiday, homestretch, ignore, impiety, impiousness,
   impropriety, inadvertence, inadvertency, inattention, indiscretion,
   inexpiable sin, iniquity, injury, injustice, interim, interlude,
   intermezzo, intermission, intermittence, interruption, interval,
   involution, irreligion, irreverence, jerk back, laches, lacuna,
   laissez-faire, lapse back, lapse from grace, lapsus calami,
   lapsus linguae, last, last lap, last round, last stage, laxity,
   laxness, layoff, let go, let ride, let slide, let slip, letup,
   loose thread, looseness, lose ground, lose sight of, lose track of,
   loss of tone, lower, lowering, lull, malefaction, malfeasance,
   malum, minor wrong, miscalculate, miscue, misdeed, misdemeanor,
   misfeasance, misstep, mistake, mortal sin, naturalization, neglect,
   neglectfulness, negligence, nod, nonfeasance, noninterference,
   nonperformance, nonrestriction, not care for, not get involved,
   not heed, not think, offense, omission, outrage, overlook,
   overlooking, oversight, pass, pass away, pass by, pass over,
   passage, pause, peccadillo, peccancy, permissiveness, plop,
   plop down, plump, plunge, poor stewardship, press on, proceed,
   procrastination, progress, pull back, re-formation,
   reach the depths, reaction, recede, recess, recession, recidivate,
   recidivation, recidivism, reclamation, reconversion, recreancy,
   recrudescence, recur to, recurrence, reduction, reentry, refluence,
   reflux, regress, regression, rehabilitation, reinstatement,
   relapse, remission, remissness, renewal, resolution, respite, rest,
   restitution, restoration, retreat, retroaction, retrocede,
   retrocession, retroflex, retroflexion, retrogradation, retrograde,
   retrogress, retrogression, retroversion, retrovert, retrusion,
   return, return to, returning, reversal, reverse, reversion, revert,
   revert to, reverting, revulsion, roll on, rollback, run, run down,
   run its course, run on, run out, sag, set, setback, settle,
   settle down, shift, shortcoming, sin, sin of commission,
   sin of omission, sinful act, sink, sink back, sink down, sinkage,
   slackness, sleep, slide, slide back, slight, slip, slip away,
   slip back, slip up, slippage, slipping back, slipup, slouch,
   slowdown, slump, slump down, stand-down, stay, sternway, stop,
   stray, stumble, submerge, submergence, subside, subsidence,
   suspension, swag, switch, switch-over, take for granted, terminate,
   throwback, tort, touch bottom, transformation, transgression,
   transit, transition, trespass, trip, truce, turn, turnabout,
   turning into, undutifulness, unrigorousness, unutterable sin,
   vacation, venial sin, vice, violation, volte-face, wander, wane,
   wear away, wear off, wrong, wrong step, yield again to

[6] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

lapse
     
        a single assignment language for the manchester dataflow
        machine.
     
        "a single assignment language for data flow computing",
        j.r.w. glauert, m.sc diss, victoria u manchester, 1978.
     
        1994-12-21
     
     
see also:
single assignment manchester dataflow machine 

[7] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

lapse, eccl. law. the transfer, by forfeiture, of a right or power to 
present or collate to a vacant benefice, from, a person vested with such 
right, to another, in consequence of some act of negligence of the former. 
ayl. parerg. 331. 

Lapse >> L Words
Lapse, definition of term: Lapse
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