RELAPSE

backsliding, lapse, lapsing, relapse, relapsing, reversion, reverting

(noun) a failure to maintain a higher state

relapse, lapse, recidivate, regress, retrogress, fall back

(verb) go back to bad behavior; “Those who recidivate are often minor criminals”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

relapse (third-person singular simple present relapses, present participle relapsing, simple past and past participle relapsed)

(intransitive) To fall back again; to slide or turn back into a former state or practice.

(intransitive, medicine, of a disease) To recur; to worsen, be aggravated (after a period of improvement).

To slip or slide back physically; to turn back.

Hyponyms

• (to fall back into a former state or practice): fall off the wagon

Noun

relapse (plural relapses)

The act or situation of relapsing.

(medicine) An occasion when a person becomes ill again after a period of improvement

(obsolete) One who has relapsed, or fallen back into error; a backslider.

Anagrams

• Leapers, Perales, leapers, pleaser, presale, repeals

Source: Wiktionary


Re*lapse" (r-lps"), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Relapsed (-lpst"); p. pr. & vb. n. Relapsing.] Etym: [L.relapsus, p. p. of relabi to slip back, to relapse; pref. re- re- + labi to fall, slip, slide. See Lapse.]

1. To slip or slide back, in a literal sense; to turn back. [Obs.] Dryden.

2. To slide or turn back into a former state or practice; to fall back from some condition attained; -- generally in a bad sense, as from a state of convalescence or amended condition; as, to relaps into a stupor, into vice, or into barbarism; -- sometimes in a good sense; as, to relapse into slumber after being disturbed. That task performed, [preachers] relapse into themselves. Cowper.

3. (Theol.)

Definition: To fall from Christian faith into paganism, heresy, or unbelief; to backslide. They enter into the justified state, and so continue all along, unless they relapse. Waterland.

Re*lapse", n. Etym: [For sense 2 cf. F. relaps. See Relapse, v.]

1. A sliding or falling back, especially into a former bad state, either of body or morals; backsliding; the state of having fallen back. Alas! from what high hope to what relapse Unlooked for are we fallen! Milton.

2. One who has relapsed, or fallen back, into error; a backlider; specifically, one who, after recanting error, returns to it again. [Obs.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

28 April 2024

POLYGENIC

(adjective) of or relating to an inheritable character that is controlled by several genes at once; of or related to or determined by polygenes


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Coffee Trivia

Decaffeinated coffee comes from a chemical process that takes out caffeine from the beans. Pharmaceutical and soda companies buy the extracted caffeine.

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