Crossword Dictionary

lapse 

lapse - n 
a break or intermission in the occurrence of something; "a lapse of three weeks between letters" 

lapse, backslide - v 
drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards 

wordplays

A lapse is a temporary slip, failure or break in continuity. If you’re normally polite, a lapse in manners could make you forget to say “please” and “thank you.”

First used to imply a “slip of the memory,” the noun lapse evolved in the sixteenth century from the Latin lapsus, meaning “a slipping and falling, falling into error.” The connotation of “a moral slip” developed later, and the verb form came into existence even later than that. Behaving badly one day when you're usually on your best behavior is a lapse; behaving badly again after a short stint being well-mannered means you're lapsing back into nasty old habits.

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