ELAPSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does elapse mean? 

• ELAPSE (verb)
  The verb ELAPSE has 1 sense:

1. pass by

  Familiarity information: ELAPSE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ELAPSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they elapse    ... he / she / it elapses   
Past simple: elapsed   
Past participle: elapsed   
-ing form: elapsing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pass by

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

elapse; glide by; go along; go by; lapse; pass; slide by; slip away; slip by

Context example:

three years elapsed

Hypernyms (to "elapse" is one way to...):

advance; go on; march on; move on; pass on; progress (move forward, also in the metaphorical sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "elapse"):

fell; fly; vanish (pass away rapidly)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

 Context examples 

Since nearly ten weeks have elapsed, then, and nothing has been heard, it is not unfair to suppose that for some reason the treaty has not reached them.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They were accompanied by a brief letter to the effect that the syndicate was overstocked, and that some months would elapse before it would be in the market again for manuscripts.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A quantity of time that elapses between two repeating activities or events.

(Cessation Pause Quantity, NCI Thesaurus)

“How much time elapsed between your turning the corner and your discovery that the road was clear?”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In the case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But even in the minute that had elapsed the number of the rats had vastly increased.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Though January had already come, months would have to elapse before any trading schooner was even likely to put into the bay.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

A quantity of time that should elapse between when an activity is ready for execution and the actual beginning of the execution.

(Defined Composition Relationship Pause Quantity, NCI Thesaurus)

The amount of time elapsed during the administration of an agent.

(Duration of Administration, NCI Thesaurus)

I instantly wrote to Geneva; nearly two months have elapsed since the departure of my letter.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)