n. A falling; a continued falling off or away; a passing or gliding along or away: as, the lapse of flowing water; the lapse of time.n. A gradual fall or descent; passage downward, physical or moral; a passing from a higher to a lower place, state, or condition: as, a lapse from integrity; a lapse into sin.n. A failure or miscarriage through some fault, slip, or negligence; hence, a slip or fault in general; a mistake from carelessness or inattention: as, a lapse of justice; a lapse of title to an estate; a lapse of the tongue or of grammar.n. In English ecclesiastical law, the failure or omission of a patron to present a clerk to a benefice within the time allowed him, six months from avoidance, in which event the benefice is said to be lapsed or in lapse, and the right of presentation passes to the bishop.To fall; slip; slide; glide; sink; pass slowly, silently, or by degrees.To slip in conduct; fail in duty; deviate from rectitude; commit a fault; slip or fall into error or sin.To fall or pass from one proprietor to another, by the omission, negligence, or failure of some one, as a patron, a legatee, etc.To pass or fall away; fail; specifically, in law, to become ineffectual or void: as, the benefice lapsed; the legacy lapsed.To cause or suffer to slide; suffer to fail or become void or ineffectual; let slip.To be found lapsing or erring.