lapse into something phrasal verb ( see also ↑ lapse )
1 . lapse into unconsciousness/silence/sleep etc to go into a quiet or less active state:
He lapsed into a coma and died two days later.
Alison lapsed into puzzled silence.
2 . to begin to behave or speak in a way that you did before:
She lapsed back into her old ways.
Occasionally he lapsed into his native German.
3 . to get into a worse state or become worse:
Following his death, the Empire lapsed into chaos.
His poetry often lapses into sentimentality.