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Definition of lapse : 1. A fall or apostasy.
2. A gliding, slipping, or gradual falling; an unobserved or imperceptible progress or passing away,; - restricted usually to immaterial things, or to figurative uses.
3. A slip; an error; a fault; a failing in duty; a slight deviation from truth or rectitude.
4. The termination of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it within the limited time, or through failure of some contingency; hence, the devolution of a right or privilege.
5. To become ineffectual or void; to fall.
6. To fall or pass from one proprietor to another, or from the original destination, by the omission, negligence, or failure of some one, as a patron, a legatee, etc.
7. To let slip; to permit to devolve on another; to allow to pass.
8. To pass slowly and smoothly downward, backward, or away; to slip downward, backward, or away; to glide; - mostly restricted to figurative uses.
9. To slide or slip in moral conduct; to fail in duty; to fall from virtue; to deviate from rectitude; to commit a fault by inadvertence or mistake.
10. To surprise in a fault or error; hence, to surprise or catch, as an offender.

Synonyms:

guide, superintendence, kick the bucket, go, remit, exceed, turnabout, backsliding, top, hand, go across, lag, expire, sneak away, go under, let up, authorize, fall behind, perish, hap, pass on, occur, failure, keep, sneak off, pop off, play along, law, dip, croak, blow over, excrete, choke, slip by, drop off, fleet, run, drop dead, recidivate, atavism, continue, turn back, slither, fall off, pass by, turn over, extend, bury, fall, legislate, give, go down, happen, slacken, slide down, retrogression, surpass, communicate, resort, transcend, pass, subside, pass along, conk, error, lead, reverse, elapse, mistake, authorise, devolve, retrovert, overstep, make pass, pass away, abate, come about, ease, die, slide by, steal away, increase, better, settle, give-up the ghost, drop, clear, glissade, exit, travel by, decease, relapsing, fall back, glide, go through, spend, make it, eliminate, overtake, throwback, slack off, pass off, go along, reverting, drop down, draw, slip away, take place, put across, egest, snuff it, go past, sneak out, lapsing, return, reversion, go on, retroversion, reversal, reach, supervision, bate, glide by, go by, move, dawdle, retrograde, proceed, lose, cash in one's chips, turnaround, buy the farm, run out, supervising, moderate, repetition, evanesce, overhaul, fall out

fade, sink, putrefy, atrophy, downgrade, relapse, degenerate, go downhill, ebb, regress, slip, get worse, tergiversate, slide, decay, retrogress, fall apart, revert, collapse, wither, wilt, slump, worsen, moulder, deteriorate, decline, dilapidate, wane

era, aeon, period, eternity, forever, span, age, duration, time

recurrence, regression, recidivation, recession, backslide, recur, recede

apathy, befuddlement, inobservance, disregard, disinterestedness, distraction, absent-mindedness, forgetfulness, heedlessness, obliviousness, unconsciousness, inadvertence, detachment, negligence, inattention, disregardfulness, thoughtlessness, carelessness, incuriosity, lack of interest, oversight, preoccupation, unconcern, indifference, absence, dreaminess, aloofness

Usage examples:

• The nurses thought at first that she was dead, it was so long before there was any sign of returning animation, and then it was only to lapse from one faint to another. - "In Wild Rose Time", Amanda M. Douglas.
• Under the circumstances I am not sure that I wouldn't have overlooked the lapse had she yielded to it. - "Ruggles of Red Gap", Harry Leon Wilson.
• On the next morning a messenger was sent over to Croker's Hall, and came back after due lapse of time with an answer to the effect that Mr Whittlestaff and Miss Lawrie would have pleasure in dining that day at Little Alresford Park. - "An Old Man's Love", Anthony Trollope.