lapse into

phrasal verb

lapsed into; lapsing into; lapses into

: to begin using or doing (something that should be avoided) for a short period of time

He's a good writer, but he occasionally lapses into jargon.

: to begin to be in (a worse or less active state or condition)

The crowd lapsed into silence.

The patient lapsed into a coma.

The society lapsed into decline.

Examples of lapse into in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

The jumps back and forth in time prevent the story from lapsing into a maudlin, by-the-numbers recovery story. —

Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 3 Oct. 2024 Perry had high levels of ketamine in his blood, likely lapsed into unconsciousness and then went underwater, according to the autopsy report. —

Alex Stone, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2024 Long, like any good GOAT, lapsed into familiar modern sport-speak. —

Sean Gregory / Paris, TIME, 7 Aug. 2024 The mujahideen who took over after the… Afghanistan Unbound Two and a half years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan is once more lapsing into bloody chaos. —

Kathy Gannon, Foreign Affairs, 9 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for lapse into