Meaning & use
Lapses
Last updated
Temporary failures to maintain a usual or expected standard, condition, or behavior.
See it in a sentence
The report cited several lapses in security at the facility.
After years of good habits, he had a few lapses back into smoking.
A note on using this word
As a verb, 'lapses' is the third-person singular of 'lapse,' meaning to gradually fall back into a worse state or to expire, as in 'the contract lapses next month.'
Words with a similar meaning
slipsfailuresoversights
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
improvements
Another way to use it
2. verb
Expires or becomes invalid through disuse or the passage of time (of a contract, policy, or right).
Her gym membership lapses at the end of the year.
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