/i laps"/ , v. , elapsed, elapsing , n.
v.i.
1. (of time) to slip or pass by: Thirty minutes elapsed before the performance began.
n.
2. the passage or termination of a period of time; lapse.
[ 1635-45; elapsus (ptp. of elabi to slip away), equiv. to e- E- + lab- slip + -sus for -tus ptp. suffix ]