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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

lapse       (lāps)  Pronunciation Key  v.   lapsed, laps·ing, laps·es v.   intr. To fall from a previous level or standard, as of accomplishment, quality, or conduct: lapse into bad habits; a team that lapsed into mediocrity halfway through the season. To deviate from a prescribed or accepted way: lapse into heresy. To pass gradually or smoothly; slip: lapse into reverie. To come to an end, especially gradually or temporarily: He realized that his attention had lapsed and he hadn't heard the assignment. To be no longer valid or active; expire: She allowed her membership to lapse after the first year. To come to an end, especially gradually or temporarily: He realized that his attention had lapsed and he hadn't heard the assignment. To be no longer valid or active; expire: She allowed her membership to lapse after the first year. Law To pass to another through neglect or omission. Used of a right or privilege, a benefice, or an estate. To go by; elapse: Years had lapsed since we last met. v.   tr. To allow to lapse. n.   The act or an instance of lapsing, as: A usually minor or temporary failure; a slip: a lapse of memory; a lapse in judgment. A deterioration or decline: a lapse into barbarism. A moral fall: a lapse from grace. A break in continuity; a pause: a lapse in the conversation. A period of time; an interval: a lapse of several years between the two revolutions. Law The termination of a right or privilege through disuse, neglect, or death. [Middle English lapsen, to deviate from the normal, from laps, lapse of time, sin (from Old French, lapse of time, from Latin lāpsus, from past participle of lābī, to lapse) and from Latin lāpsāre, frequentative of lābī, to lapse.] laps'er n.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
lapse 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

lapse
noun
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]
verb
1.	pass into a specified state or condition; "He sank into nirvana" [syn: sink]
2.	end, at least for a long time; "The correspondence lapsed"
3.	drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards
4.	go back to bad behavior; "Those who recidivate are often minor criminals" [syn: relapse]
5.	let slip; "He lapsed his membership"
6.	pass by; "three years elapsed" [syn: elapse]

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: lapse
Pronunciation: 'laps
Function: noun
: a termination or failure due to events, neglect, or time: as a : the failure of a bequest (as because the intended recipient dies before the testator) —compare ANTI-LAPSE STATUTE b : the termination of an insurance policy because of nonpayment of premiums or nonrenewal

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: lapse
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: lapsed; laps·ing
intransitive verb : to terminate, become ineffective, or fail lapsed when the son died before the father> lapse> transitive verb : to cause (as a policy) to lapse lapsed the policy>

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

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)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Lapse

Lapse\, 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.

The lapse to indolence is soft and imperceptible. --Rambler.

Bacon was content to wait the lapse of long centuries for his expected revenue of fame. --I. Taylor.

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

To guard against those lapses and failings to which our infirmities daily expose us. --Rogers.

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.

4. (Theol.) A fall or apostasy.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

A tendency to lapse into the barbarity of those northern nations from whom we are descended. --Swift.

Homer, in his characters of Vulcan and Thersites, has lapsed into the burlesque character. --Addison.

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.

To lapse in fullness Is sorer than to lie for need. --Shak.

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.

If the archbishop shall not fill it up within six months ensuing, it lapses to the king. --Ayliffe.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Lapse

Lapse\, v. t. 1. To let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to pass.

An appeal may be deserted by the appellant's lapsing the term of law. --Ayliffe.

2. To surprise in a fault or error; hence, to surprise or catch, as an offender. [Obs.]

For which, if be lapsed in this place, I shall pay dear. --Shak.