1. an accidental or temporary decline or deviation from an expected or accepted condition or state; a temporary falling or slipping from a previous standard: a lapse of justice.
2. a slip or error, often of a trivial sort; failure: a lapse of memory.
3. an interval or passage of time; elapsed period: a lapse of ten minutes before the program resumed.
4. a moral fall, as from rectitude or virtue.
5. a fall or decline to a lower grade, condition, or degree; descent; regression: a lapse into savagery.
6. the act of falling, slipping, sliding, etc., slowly or by degrees.
7. a falling into disuse.
8. discontinuance of coverage resulting from nonpayment of a premium; termination of a policy.
9. the termination of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it or through failure of some contingency.
10. lapse rate.
11. a gentle, downward flow, as of water.

12. to fall or deviate from a previous standard; fail to maintain a normative level: Toward the end of the book the author lapsed into bad prose.
13. to come to an end; stop: We let our subscription to that magazine lapse.
14. to fall, slip, or sink; subside: to lapse into silence.
15. to fall into disuse: The custom lapsed after a period of time.
16. to deviate or abandon principles, beliefs, etc.: to lapse into heresy.
17. to fall spiritually, as an apostate: to lapse from grace.
18. to pass away, as time; elapse.
19. to become void, as a legacy to someone who dies before the testator.
20. to cease being in force; terminate: Your insurance policy will lapse after 30 days.

1. a drop in standard of an isolated or temporary nature
2. a break in occurrence, usage, etc
3. a gradual decline or a drop to a lower degree, condition, or state
4. a moral fall
5. the termination of some right, interest, or privilege, as by neglecting to exercise it or through failure of some contingency
6. the termination of coverage following a failure to pay the premiums

7. to drop in standard or fail to maintain a norm
8. to decline gradually or fall in status, condition, etc
9. to be discontinued, esp through negligence or other failure
10. to drift or slide (into a condition)
11. to turn away (from beliefs or norms)
12. (of a devise or bequest) to become void, as on the beneficiary's predeceasing the testator
13. (of time) to slip away

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