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 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

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lapse into.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.