Definition of: lapse

(laps) v.i. lapsed, laps·ing
1. To pass slowly or by degrees; slip; sink: to lapse into a coma.
2. To deviate from virtue or truth; fail in duty or accuracy.
3. To pass or elapse, as time.
4. To become void, usually by disuse or neglect: The agreement lapsed.
5. Law To pass or be forfeited to another because of the negligence, failure, or death of the holder. See synonyms under FALL.
—noun
1. An insensible or gradual slipping, gliding, or passing away; imperceptible movement onward or downward: the lapse of ages.
2. A fall to a lower form or state; a falling into decay or ruin, as a building: used also figuratively.
3. A slight deviation from what is right, proper, or just; a slip or mistake through lack of care or attention: a lapse in conduct; lapse of the pen.
4. Failure or miscarriage, as through fault or negligence: a lapse of justice.
5. Law The defeat of a right or privilege through fault, failure, or neglect, as, to perform certain conditions of a testamentary bequest.
6. Apostasy. [<L lapsus a slip <labi glide, slip]
—laps′a·ble, laps′i·ble adjective
—laps′er noun