verb, -lapsed, -laps⋅ing, noun | 1. | to fall or slip back into a former state, practice, etc.: to relapse into silence. |
| 2. | to fall back into illness after convalescence or apparent recovery. |
| 3. | to fall back into vice, wrongdoing, or error; backslide: to relapse into heresy. |
| 4. | an act or instance of relapsing. |
| 5. | a return of a disease or illness after partial recovery from it. |

relapse re·lapse (rĭ-lāps')
v. re·lapsed, re·laps·ing, re·laps·es
To regress after partial recovery from illness.
To slip back into bad ways; backslide.
To fall or slide back into a former state.