1. (n.) A gap, slipping, or gradual fading; as, a lapse in judgment; an unobserved or imperceptible progress or passing away; -- restricted usually to immaterial things, or to figurative uses.
2. (n.) A slip; an error; a fault; a failing in duty; a slight deviation from truth or rectitude.
3. (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.
4. (n.) A fall or apostasy.
5. (v. i.) To pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away; to slip downward, backward, or away; to glide; -- mostly restricted to figurative uses.
6. (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.
7. (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.
8. (v. i.) To become ineffectual or void; to fall.
9. (v. t.) To let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to pass.
10. (v. t.) To surprise in a fault or error; hence, to surprise or catch, as an offender.
Thesaurus Entries
abeyance, about-face, advance, alchemy, apostasy, apostatize, assimilation, assumption, atavism, atheism, atrocity, backing, backset, backslide, backsliding, backward deviation, backward motion, backward step, balk, be all over, be caught napping, be gone, be neglectful, be negligent, be no more, be past, become extinct, become void, becoming, bevue, blooper, blow over, blunder, boner, breach, break, bull, bungle, cadence, caesura, catabasis, catenary, cave, cave in, cease, cease-fire, cessation, change, change-over, close, closing, cock, collapse, comedown, continue, conversion, crash, crime, crime against humanity, culpa, culpable negligence, day off, deadly sin, debasement, decadence, decadency, deceleration, declension, declination, decline, decline and fall, decrescendo, decurrence, default, deformation, degeneracy, degenerate, degenerateness, degeneration, degradation, delinquency, demotion, depravation, depravedness, depreciation, dereliction, derogation, descend, descent, desertion, deteriorate, deterioration, deviate, devolution, die, die away, diminish, diminuendo, diminution, disappear, disenchantment, disregard, dive, downtrend, downturn, downward mobility, downward trend, droop, drop, dwindling, dying, ebb, effeteness, elapse, end, endure, enormity, err, error, evil, expire, fade, fading, fail, failing, failure, failure of nerve, fall, fall again into, fall astern, fall away, fall back, fall behind, fall from grace, fall into error, fall off, falling back, falling-off, false move, false step, fault, felony, flip-flop, flit, flop, flop down, flow, flow on, fluff, flump, flump down, fly, foible, founder, frailty, gap, genocide, get behind, give way, glide, gloss over, go amiss, go astray, go awry, go backwards, go behind, go by, go down, go downhill, go off, go on, go out, go wrong, goof, growth, guilty act, have a relapse, have it, have its time, have run out, heavy sin, hesitation, hiatus, hit a slump, hit rock bottom, hit the skids, hold-up, holiday, homestretch, ignore, impiety, impiousness, impropriety, inadvertence, inadvertency, inattention, indiscretion, inexpiable sin, iniquity, injury, injustice, interim, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermittence, interruption, interval, involution, irreligion, irreverence, jerk back, laches, lacuna, laissez-faire, lapse back, lapse from grace, lapsus calami, lapsus linguae, last, last lap, last round, last stage, laxity, laxness, layoff, let go, let ride, let slide, let slip, letup, loose thread, looseness, lose ground, lose sight of, lose track of, loss of tone, lower, lowering, lull, malefaction, malfeasance, malum, minor wrong, miscalculate, miscue, misdeed, misdemeanor, misfeasance, misstep, mistake, mortal sin, naturalization, neglect
