— lapser , n.
/laps/ , n. , v. , lapsed, lapsing .
n.
1. an accidental or temporary decline or deviation from an expected or accepted condition or state; a temporary falling or slipping from a previous standard: a lapse of justice.
2. a slip or error, often of a trivial sort; failure: a lapse of memory.
3. an interval or passage of time; elapsed period: a lapse of ten minutes before the program resumed.
4. a moral fall, as from rectitude or virtue.
5. a fall or decline to a lower grade, condition, or degree; descent; regression: a lapse into savagery.
6. the act of falling, slipping, sliding, etc., slowly or by degrees.
7. a falling into disuse.
8. Insurance. discontinuance of coverage resulting from nonpayment of a premium; termination of a policy.
9. Law. the termination of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it or through failure of some contingency.
10. Meteorol. See lapse rate .
11. Archaic. a gentle, downward flow, as of water.
v.i.
12. to fall or deviate from a previous standard; fail to maintain a normative level: Toward the end of the book the author lapsed into bad prose.
13. to come to an end; stop: We let our subscription to that magazine lapse.
14. to fall, slip, or sink; subside: to lapse into silence.
15. to fall into disuse: The custom lapsed after a period of time.
16. to deviate or abandon principles, beliefs, etc.: to lapse into heresy.
17. to fall spiritually, as an apostate: to lapse from grace.
18. to pass away, as time; elapse.
19. Law. to become void, as a legacy to someone who dies before the testator.
20. to cease being in force; terminate: Your insurance policy will lapse after 30 days.
[ 1520-30; lapsus an error, slipping, failing, equiv. to lab ( i ) to slide, slip, fall, make a mistake + -sus, for -tus suffix of v. action ]