LAPSE
Dictionary entry overview: What does lapse mean?
• LAPSE (noun)
The noun LAPSE has 3 senses:
1. a mistake resulting from inattention
2. a break or intermission in the occurrence of something
3. a failure to maintain a higher state
Familiarity information: LAPSE used as a noun is uncommon.
• LAPSE (verb)
The verb LAPSE has 6 senses:
1. pass into a specified state or condition
2. end, at least for a long time
3. drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards
4. go back to bad behavior
5. let slip
6. pass by
Familiarity information: LAPSE used as a verb is common.
Dictionary entry details
• LAPSE (noun)
Meaning:
A mistake resulting from inattention
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
lapse; oversight
Hypernyms ("lapse" is a kind of...):
error; fault; mistake (a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention)
Meaning:
A break or intermission in the occurrence of something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Context example:
a lapse of three weeks between letters
Hypernyms ("lapse" is a kind of...):
break; intermission; interruption; pause; suspension (a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something)
Meaning:
A failure to maintain a higher state
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
backsliding; lapsing; relapse; relapsing; reverting; lapse; reversion
Hypernyms ("lapse" is a kind of...):
failure (an act that fails)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lapse"):
recidivism (habitual relapse into crime)
• LAPSE (verb)
Meaning:
Pass into a specified state or condition
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
lapse; sink; pass
Context example:
He sank into Nirvana
Hypernyms (to "lapse" is one way to...):
move (go or proceed from one point to another)
Sentence frames:
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP
Meaning:
End, at least for a long time
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Context example:
The correspondence lapsed
Hypernyms (to "lapse" is one way to...):
cease; end; finish; stop; terminate (have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Meaning:
Drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
backslide; lapse
Hypernyms (to "lapse" is one way to...):
drop away; drop off; fall away; slip (get worse)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Meaning:
Go back to bad behavior
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Synonyms:
recidivate; relapse; retrogress; lapse; regress; fall back
Context example:
Those who recidivate are often minor criminals
Hypernyms (to "lapse" is one way to...):
regress; retrovert; return; revert; turn back (go back to a previous state)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Meaning:
Let slip
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Context example:
He lapsed his membership
Hypernyms (to "lapse" is one way to...):
forfeit; forgo; give up; throw overboard; waive (lose or lose the right to by some error, offense, or crime)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Meaning:
Pass by
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
go by; slip by; glide by; elapse; slide by; slip away; go along; pass; lapse
Context example:
three years elapsed
Hypernyms (to "lapse" is one way to...):
advance; go on; march on; move on; pass on; progress (move forward, also in the metaphorical sense)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lapse"):
fell; fly; vanish (pass away rapidly)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
