The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - lapse n.

1) slip, error, mistake, fault, failing, oversight, blunder, shortcoming, omission, Formal lapsus, Colloq slip-up, fluff, goof: Apart from a brief lapse, the child behaved very well. Owing to a lapse, your payment was not credited. 2) gap, break, interval, intermission, interruption, pause, lacuna, hiatus, Prosody caesura, Colloq hold-up: Listeners in Scotland experienced a lapse in transmission, for which we apologize. 3) decline, lowering, fall, deterioration, drop, diminution, descent: There has been a serious lapse in church attendance. --v. 4) decline, lower, fall, drop, diminish, sink, slip, slump, subside, deteriorate: Despite the doctor's best efforts, he lapsed into a coma. 5) run out, expire, be discontinued, become void, terminate, end, cease, stop: Your option to sell the shares at the offering price lapses on Friday. 6) pass, elapse, go by, slip away: Three months had lapsed since she last saw him.