·noun A fall or apostasy.
II. Lapse ·vi To become ineffectual or void; to Fall.
III. Lapse ·vt To let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to pass.
IV. Lapse ·noun A slip; an error; a fault; a failing in duty; a slight deviation from truth or rectitude.
V. Lapse ·vt To surprise in a fault or error; hence, to surprise or catch, as an Offender.
VI. Lapse ·vi To slide or slip in moral conduct; to fail in duty; to fall from virtue; to deviate from rectitude; to commit a fault by inadvertence or mistake.
VII. Lapse ·noun A gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or imperceptible progress or passing away,;
— restricted usually to immaterial things, or to figurative uses.
VIII. Lapse ·vi To fall or pass from one proprietor to another, or from the original destination, by the omission, negligence, or failure of some one, as a patron, a legatee, ·etc.
IX. Lapse ·vi To pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away; to slip downward, backward, or away; to Glide;
— mostly restricted to figurative uses.
X. Lapse ·noun The termination of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it within the limited time, or through failure of some contingency; hence, the devolution of a right or privilege.