Lapse | Mean of lapse in English Dictionary

/ˈlæps/

• Noun
• an occurrence in which you fail to think or act in the usual or proper way for a brief time and make a mistake
1. He blamed the error on a minor mental lapse.
2. As he grew older he began to have memory lapses. [=times when he forgot things that he should have remembered]
3. a lapse in decorum/civility/judgment
4. a serious lapse in security
5. She had a brief lapse of attention/concentration.
• an occurrence in which someone behaves badly for usually a short period of time
1. moral lapses
2. a politician who is being accused of ethical lapses [=accused of doing things that are not ethical]
• a change that results in worse behavior
1. a lapse into bad habits

• a period of time between events
1. He returned to college after a lapse of several years.
• the ending of something that happens when the payments necessary for it to continue are not made
1. the lapse of an insurance policy
2. the lapse of a magazine subscription
• Verb
• to stop for usually a brief time
1. After a few polite words the conversation lapsed.
2. Her interest in politics lapsed while she was in medical school.
• to become no longer effective or valid
1. She didn't pay the premium and her life insurance policy lapsed.
2. He forgot to renew his driver's license, so it lapsed.
3. She allowed the magazine subscription to lapse.
• to begin using or doing (something that should be avoided) for a short period of time
1. He's a good writer, but he occasionally lapses into jargon.
• to begin to be in (a worse or less active state or condition)
1. The crowd lapsed into silence.
2. The patient lapsed into [=slipped into] a coma.
3. He lapsed into unconsciousness.
4. The society lapsed into decline.