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to lapse

to lapse

6 5.1
To end when it is not renewed
  • verb
  • /læps/
translation icon : caducar
  • The 2 percent payroll tax break would lapse, raising tax withholding on more than 120 million working households.
  • let something lapse
  • allow something to lapse

The Republican freshmen were going, no, we need more faster and they let that lapse.

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Examples

  • Well, I'm such a smart businessman, Ben, that I went and let the insurance policy lapse.

  • If the maintenance is allowed to lapse, so does the quality of government.

    Blog text (8)
  • I had to let the policy lapse.

  • We have the system, but we let the service lapse.

  • Avoid letting your coverage lapse to keep your policy rates low.

    Blog text (5)
  • Maybe I will just let my subscription lapse without renewal.

    Blog text (13)
  • I don't know how I let it lapse, but we have been so busy.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • "You don't let your insurance policy lapse right when you are about to collect.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The problem is that we let these practices lapse while we adopted the use of more and more disposable products.

    Blog text (19)
  • I let my gym membership lapse because I couldn't afford the fees anymore.

Synonyms

to run out
vsto lapse
88 2.9

Stop being valid after a set time

can also mean ending because it is not kept or maintained

Antonyms

1.0

To keep doing something without stopping

931 3.1

Keep an activity, quality, or schedule going over time

How Final

to end
1.0
to terminate
147 4.6
to expire
197 3.7
to lapse
6 5.1
to fizzle out
  • Informal
8 5.3
to peter out
9 5.6
to taper off
9 4.5

Surface Forms

lapse infinitive
lapse infinitive
lapsed past
lapsed past participle
lapsing present participle

Etymology

When something like a membership lapses, the origin is Latin labi 'to slip' or 'fall', so the idea is that it 'falls away' or comes to an end if not kept active.