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lapse

[laps] / læps /






Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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The newly uncovered lapse took place in 2024 when a longtime researcher in the Fed’s international-finance division, who hasn’t been identified, was retiring.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

The summit’s most lamentable lapse was its failure to take even a small step toward putting guardrails on artificial intelligence.

From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2026

An MSP who faced ridicule over a blunder at a Holyrood committee has said she suffered a "momentary lapse" brought on by lack of sleep and a chest infection.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

Sadly, the $2,000 payment the 82-year-old mother made to her neighbor for clearing her garage is symptomatic of a lapse in judgment about the basic concepts of money, value and reasonableness, compounded by emotion.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

It was totally unlike them, this lapse from gentility, and it made them much more interesting.

From "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbit

This morning, we bring you new reporting on the multicountry security lapses that preceded the attack.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

But the debate has shifted to safety in recent weeks, after security lapses sparked calls from some industry leaders for development of the technology to be slowed down.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

“I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction this situation has caused the fans and my family,” the statement read.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

Aging often makes itself visible in familiar ways, from gray hair and wrinkles to lapses in memory.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

I considered myself lucky if, after subtracting lapses from new business, there remained fifteen dollars that I could call my own.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

A previous planning application lodged with Leeds City Council which has since lapsed proposed the site could be repurposed into a hotel, restaurant and car park.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

But the CBP had said in a court filing this week that the pause had lapsed on September 30 and work would soon resume.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

“There was an opportunity to win back customers who had lapsed over the course of many years,” said Kaminetsky, who is 47 years old.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

But when they lapsed at the end of 2025, the average subsidized enrollee’s cost to keep the same plan jumped about 114%.

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

“Her name isn’t even really Mirabelle McCullough, for god’s sake,” Serena had said at last, and they’d lapsed into sullen, troubled silence until they both fell asleep.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

This hasn’t survived two centuries of bloody revolution, lapsing religious faith and the catastrophic first half of the 20th century.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

However, this protection comes with limited upside given that it does not eliminate the risk of either poor long-term performance or the policy lapsing.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026

“Labyrinth” is fortified with trompe l’oeil wonders, but none are as powerful as a dream sequence resulting from Sarah lapsing into a hallucination after she bites into an enchanted peach.

From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026

It’s a gesture that keeps the film from lapsing into melodrama.

From New York Times ● May 9, 2024

When they recovered enough to make money, she would drive them to the wall, haggling them to death, lapsing into Yiddish when the going got tough.

From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride




Vocabulary lists containing lapse


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