ppl. a. [f. LAPSE v. + -ED1.]
1. That has glided away, dropped out of use, disappeared from sight, or fallen into decay.
1667. Milton, P. L., III. 176. Once more I will renew His lapsed powers, though forfeit and enthrall’d By sin to foul exorbitant desires.
1823. Byron, Juan, XVI. xxi. A monk … appear’d, Now in the moonlight, and now lapsed in shade.
1854. H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., iv. (1857), 66. During the lapsed century the waves had largely encroached on the low flat shores.
1881. Times, 2 Feb., 9/2. The House of Commons must recover its lapsed authority.
1890. John Bull, 5 April, 231/1. It is probable that the lapsed custom of an annual dinner will be revived.
† b. That has been let slip incautiously. Obs.
1741. Watts, Improv. Mind, ix. (1801), 80. Let there be … no sudden seizure of a lapsed syllable to play upon it.
2. Of a person: Fallen or sunk into a lower grade, or a depraved condition; esp. fallen into sin, or from the faith (cf. COLLAPSED 3); applied Hist. to Christians who denied the faith during persecution. Lapsed classes, masses: those who have dropped out of social standing. Also absol.
1638. Penit. Conf., iii. (1657), 36. Such a lapsed sinner may not be incapable of pardon.
1664. H. More, Myst. Iniq., xiv. 48. But this plea is in common with the Heathens and lapsed Christians. Ibid. (1668), Div. Dial., I. xvi. (1713), 35. That the standing Spirits hugely exceed the number of the lapsed.
1677. Horneck, Gt. Law Consid., iv. (1704), 98. Free you from the rubbish the lapsed posterity of Adam lies groaning under.
1702. Echard, Eccl. Hist., III. v. 406. His greatest Concern was for the Case of the Lapsed.
1706. Stanhope, Paraphr., III. 294. The Author of all Goodness to lapsed Man.
1754. Richardson, Grandison (ed. 6), II. 231. May not virtue itself pity the lapsed?
1822. Lamb, Elia, Ser. I. Praise Chimneysw. Good blood and gentle conditions, derived from lost ancestry and a lapsed pedigree.
1831–3. E. Burton, Eccl. Hist., xxv. (1845), 532. These lapsed Christians, as they were called … retained their belief in Christ.
1854. H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., xvi. (1857), 367. It almost necessarily takes its place among the lapsed classes.
1865. Pusey, Truth Eng. Ch., 198. The lapsed were restored under the prospect of renewed persecution.
1887. Pall Mall Gaz., 8 March, 2/2. To facilitate the elevation of the lapsed masses.
3. Said of a fief, devise or legacy, the right to which has passed from the original holder, devisee or legatee.
1617. Minsheu, Ductor, s.v. Lapse, That Benefice is in lapse or lapsed, whereunto he that ought to present, hath omitted or slipped his opportunities.
1767. Blackstone, Comm., II. 513. If the legatee dies before the testator, the legacy is a lost or lapsed legacy, and shall sink into the residuum.
1816. Scott, Antiq., xviii. His lands … were reassumed by the emperor as a lapsed fief.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), VI. 195. The devise was lapsed and void.
1893. T. F. Tout, Edw. I., i. 16. The bestowal of lapsed fiefs was among the most important of the prerogatives of the Crown.
