# lapse

> English word · Noun · IPA /læps/ · frequency rank #15,206

## Definitions
1. A temporary failure; a slip.
2. A decline or fall in standards.
3. A pause in continuity.
4. An interval of time between events.
5. A termination of a right etc., through disuse or neglect.
6. A marked decrease in air temperature with increasing altitude because the ground is warmer than the surrounding air.
7. A common-law rule that if the person to whom property is willed were to die before the testator, then the gift would be ineffective.
8. A fall or apostasy.

## Etymology
From Middle French laps, from Latin lāpsus, from lābī (“to slip”). Doublet of lapsus.

## Easily confused with
- **las** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-las)
- **last** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-last)
- **late** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-late)
- **lose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-lose)
- **laws** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-laws)
- **lips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-lips)
- **lays** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-lays)
- **Lars** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-lars)
- **lash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-lash)
- **lass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-lass)
- **Lupe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-lupe)
- **Lise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-lise)
- **lope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-lope)
- **large** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-large)
- **loose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-loose)
- **laser** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-laser)
- **lease** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-lease)
- **leaps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-leaps)
- **latte** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-latte)
- **Laude** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lapse-vs-laude)

## Common misspellings (7)
`alpse`, `lapes`, `lappse`, `lapsse`, `laspe`, `llapse`, `lpase`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/lapse