Library / English Dictionary

ELAPSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pass by

Example:

three years elapsed

Synonyms:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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

Credits

 Context examples: 

It is a matter of history, however, that a little time was still to elapse before the Tiger of San Pedro should meet with his deserts.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A quantity of time that should elapse between two or more activities or events.

(Pause Quantity, NCI Thesaurus)

Several weeks elapsed before I saw the least change in her.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Only a few seconds elapsed before he was on his feet again.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Ere many minutes had elapsed, I was again on my feet, however, and again searching something—a resource, or at least an informant.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

And nine years, Catherine knew, was a trifle of time, compared with what generally elapsed after the death of an injured wife, before her room was put to rights.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The amount of time elapsed during the capture of data.

(Acquisition Duration, NCI Thesaurus)

The length of time that should elapse after the observed result occurs and before the cessation of repeating the activity.

(Defined Repeat Activity Until Rule Cessation Pause Quantity, NCI Thesaurus)

How long something has existed; elapsed time since birth.

(Age, NCI Thesaurus)

But now several minutes elapsed without bringing the sound of his voice; and when occasionally, unable to resist the impulse of curiosity, she raised her eyes to his face, she as often found him looking at Jane as at herself, and frequently on no object but the ground.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)