elapse
verb /ɪˈlæps/
/ɪˈlæps/
[intransitive] not usually used in the progressive tenses (formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they elapse | /ɪˈlæps/ /ɪˈlæps/ |
| he / she / it elapses | /ɪˈlæpsɪz/ /ɪˈlæpsɪz/ |
| past simple elapsed | /ɪˈlæpst/ /ɪˈlæpst/ |
| past participle elapsed | /ɪˈlæpst/ /ɪˈlæpst/ |
| -ing form elapsing | /ɪˈlæpsɪŋ/ /ɪˈlæpsɪŋ/ |
- if a period of time elapses, it passes synonym go by
- Many years elapsed before they met again.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryElapse is used with these nouns as the subject:- decade
- fortnight
- minute
- …
Word Originlate 16th cent. (in the sense ‘slip away’): from Latin elaps- ‘slipped away’, from the verb elabi, from e- (variant of ex-) ‘out, away’ + labi ‘to glide, slip’.