All 6 Uses of
lapse
in
Jane Eyre
- That afternoon lapsed in peace and harmony; and in the evening Bessie told me some of her most enchanting stories, and sang me some of her sweetest songs.†
Chpt 4
- You think all existence lapses in as quiet a flow as that in which your youth has hitherto slid away.†
Chpt 15
- It is one of my faults, that though my tongue is sometimes prompt enough at an answer, there are times when it sadly fails me in framing an excuse; and always the lapse occurs at some crisis, when a facile word or plausible pretext is specially wanted to get me out of painful embarrassment.†
Chpt 23
- The lunatic is both cunning and malignant; she has never failed to take advantage of her guardian's temporary lapses; once to secrete the knife with which she stabbed her brother, and twice to possess herself of the key of her cell, and issue therefrom in the night-time.†
Chpt 27
- When at last she left you, you lapsed at once into deep reverie: you betook yourself slowly to pace the gallery.†
Chpt 27
- I took no note of the lapse of time — of the change from morning to noon, from noon to evening.†
Chpt 29 *
Definition:
-
(lapse as in: a lapse in judgement) a change in behavior or state--usually undesired such as a temporary failureThe exact meaning of this sense of lapse is often subject to its context:
- basic example that simply indicates an undesired change in behavior -- "lapsed into alcoholism"
- example indicating that the change was short-term and due to a failure (often of effort or diligence) -- "a lapse in judgment"
- example indicating return to a previous undesired behavior or state -- "lapsed into her old bad habits"
- examples indicating a change in what was occurring where the change is not necessarily negative -- "There was a lapse in the conversation," or "She stopped talking as she lapsed into her own internal world."