Definition of lapse

• n. - A gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or imperceptible progress or passing away,; -- restricted usually to immaterial things, or to figurative uses.
• n. - A slip; an error; a fault; a failing in duty; a slight deviation from truth or rectitude.
• n. - 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.
• n. - A fall or apostasy.
• v. i. - To pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away; to slip downward, backward, or away; to glide; -- mostly restricted to figurative uses.
• v. i. - 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.
• v. i. - 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.
• v. i. - To become ineffectual or void; to fall.
• v. t. - To let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to pass.
• v. t. - To surprise in a fault or error; hence, to surprise or catch, as an offender.