Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To slip by; pass.
  • noun Passage; lapse.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of passing; lapse.
  • To slide, slip, or glide away; pass away with or as if with a continuous gliding motion: used of time.
  • To pass out of view or consideration; suffer lapse or neglect.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To slip or glide away; to pass away silently, as time; -- used chiefly in reference to time.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive, of time To pass or move by.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb pass by

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin ēlābī, ēlāps- : ē-, ex-, ex- + lābī, to slip.]

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Examples

  • In addition, a certain time must elapse from the injection of the serum until its antitoxic and healing activity in the affected parts of the body can develop.

    Emil von Behring - Nobel Lecture 1967

  • Mike, so about what kind of elapse of time are we talking about?

    CNN Transcript Oct 21, 2005 2005

  • From a practical standpoint, Republicans can simply wait out the Congressional moratorium which has to be renewed every year and let it elapse, meaning that they would then be able to deliver leases to oil and gas companies allowing for exploration as close as 3 miles from the shoreline.

    D-Day 2008

  • World oil prices had settled down from the 1973 embargo, and two years would elapse before all hell broke loose again.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • World oil prices had settled down from the 1973 embargo, and two years would elapse before all hell broke loose again.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • World oil prices had settled down from the 1973 embargo, and two years would elapse before all hell broke loose again.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • Another 10 months must elapse before the SNP annexes Perth for its national conference, but already the clock is ticking.

    What do we know about football? Sweet SFA | Kevin McKenna 2012

  • That's why ideologues will spin and push hard now for political changes lest another decade elapse and true data show that the conclusion of human input being a decisive factor is scientifically unsupported.

    An Ominous Story 2009

  • If the incumbent doesn't act, a year or more could elapse before the new CEO is ready to do so.

    Making The Most Of The CEO's Last 100 Days Christian Caspar 2011

  • Less than fifteen minutes would elapse in her world but it would give the infusion band time to work with her meal pills, ensuring her body was in prime health and not deficient of any nutrients.

    365 tomorrows » 2009 » August : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2009

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