Lapse
Definitions
- A temporary failure; a slip.
- A decline or fall in standards.
- A pause in continuity.
- An interval of time between events.
- A termination of a right etc., through disuse or neglect.
- A marked decrease in air temperature with increasing altitude because the ground is warmer than the surrounding air.
- A common-law rule that if the person to whom property is willed were to die before the testator, then the gift would be ineffective.
- A fall or apostasy.
Equivalents
Examples
“memory lapse”
“lapse of judgment”
“lapse in security”
“lapse in concentration”
“Now, tho’ this Scripture may be usefully understood and apply’d by us as a Caution to guard against those Lapses and Failings to which our Infirmities daily expose us”
“The lapse to indolence is soft and imperceptible, because it is only a mere cessation of activity”
“Still onward winds the dreary way; I with it; for I long to prove⟳ No lapse of moons can canker Love⟳, Whatever fickle tongues may say⟳.”
“Bacon was content to wait⟳ the lapse of long centuries for his expected revenue of fame”
CEFR level
C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
See also
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