meaning of lapse
1. A gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or imperceptible progress or passing away,; -- restricted usually to immaterial things, or to figurative uses.
2. A slip; an error; a fault; a failing in duty; a slight deviation from truth or rectitude.
3. 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.
4. A fall or apostasy.
5. To pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away; to slip downward, backward, or away; to glide; -- mostly restricted to figurative uses.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. To become ineffectual or void; to fall.
9. To let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to pass.
10. To surprise in a fault or error; hence, to surprise or catch, as an offender.
11. a failure to maintain a higher state
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