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N-COUNT
閃失；過失；失檢
A lapse is a moment or instance of bad behaviour by someone who usually behaves well.
例句
On Friday he showed neither decency nor dignity. It was an uncommon lapse.
星期五那天他的表現既不得體，又有失尊嚴。如此失態非常少有。
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N-COUNT
（一時的）疏忽，大意，開小差
A lapse of something such as concentration or judgment is a temporary lack of that thing, which can often cause you to make a mistake.
例句
I had a little lapse of concentration in the middle of the race...
我在比賽中途一時走神。
He was a genius and because of it you could accept lapses of taste...
由于他是天才，所以品位上偶有差池大家也不會介意。
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VERB
陷入，進入（某種安靜或靜止狀態）
If you lapse into a quiet or inactive state, you stop talking or being active.
例句
She muttered something unintelligible and lapsed into silence...
她不知嘟囔了幾句什么后就不再開口。
Doris Brown closed her eyes and lapsed into sleep.
多麗絲·布朗閉上眼睛，安然入睡。
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VERB
（通常指短暫地）進入，陷入（某種說話或行事方式）
If someone lapses into a particular way of speaking, or behaving, they start speaking or behaving in that way, usually for a short period.
例句
She lapsed into a little girl voice to deliver a nursery rhyme...
她改用童聲唱起童謠來。
Teenagers occasionally find it all too much to cope with and lapse into bad behaviour.
青少年偶爾會因感到壓力太大無所適從而做出不良行為。
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N-SING
（時間的）間隔
A lapse of time is a period that is long enough for a situation to change or for people to have a different opinion about it.
例句
...the restoration of diplomatic relations after a lapse of 24 years...
時隔24年后外交關系的恢復
There is usually a time lapse between receipt of new information and its publication.
新信息的接收與發布之間通常會間隔一段時間。
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VERB
（時間）流逝，消逝，推移
If a period of time lapses, it passes.
例句
New products and production processes are transferred to the developing countries only after a substantial amount of time has lapsed.
新的產品和生產工序要經過一段相當長的時間后才能向發展中國家轉移。
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VERB
結束；終止
If a situation or legal contract lapses, it is allowed to end rather than being continued, renewed, or extended.
例句
Her membership of the Labour Party has lapsed...
她已不再是工黨黨員。
Ford allowed the name and trademark to lapse during the Eighties.
福特在20世紀80年代廢止了該名稱和商標。
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VERB
停止信教；背棄信仰；脫離宗教關系
If a member of a particular religion lapses, they stop believing in it or stop following its rules and practices.
例句
I lapsed in my 20s, returned to it, then lapsed again, while writing the life of historical Jesus...
我20多歲時曾經停止信教，后來一度又信，再后來撰寫歷史上耶穌的生平故事時又再脫教。
She calls herself a lapsed Catholic.
她稱自己已不再信仰天主教。