1. A failure to maintain a higher state
   "His lapsing into old habits disappointed his mentor";
   - backsliding, lapse, relapse, relapsing, reversion, reverting

1. Go back to bad behaviour
   "He lapsed into his old habits";
   - relapse, recidivate [rare], regress, retrogress, fall back
    
2. Revert to sinful or undesirable behaviour after a period of improvement or commitment to change
   "Conservatives worry about McCain's lapse on immigration";
   - backslide
    
3. End, at least for a long time
   "The correspondence lapsed"
    
4. Pass into a specified state or condition; sink into
   "He lapsed into nirvana";
   - sink, pass
    
5. Become later by the passage of a given amount of time
   "three years lapsed";
   - elapse, pass, slip by, glide by, slip away, go by, slide by, go along
    
6. Let slip
   "He lapsed his membership"

See also: glide

Type of: advance, cease, drop away, drop off, end, failure, fall away, finish, forego, forfeit, forgo, give up, go on, march on, move, move on, pass on, progress, regress, retrovert [rare], return, revert, slip, stop, terminate, throw overboard, turn back, waive

Encyclopedia: Lapsing