lapse

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A small, temporary failure, especially of memory or attention.

   In a brief lapse of concentration, she missed the most important point of the lecture.

2. 2
   noun

   A pause or gap during which something stops happening.

   After a lapse of three weeks, the letters finally started arriving again.

3. 3
   verb

   To gradually come to an end or stop being valid.

   He forgot to renew it, so his gym membership quietly lapsed.

4. 4
   verb

   To slowly slip or sink into a worse or less active state.

   Whenever she is tired, she tends to lapse into her old bad habits.

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

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