Definitions of lapse:
- noun: a break or intermission in the occurrence of something
Example: "A lapse of three weeks between letters"
- noun: a failure to maintain a higher state
- noun: a mistake resulting from inattention
- verb: let slip
Example: "He lapsed his membership"
- verb: end, at least for a long time
Example: "The correspondence lapsed"
- verb: drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards
- verb: pass by
Example: "Three years elapsed"
- verb: go back to bad behavior
- verb: pass into a specified state or condition