Library / English Dictionary

RELAPSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A failure to maintain a higher state

Synonyms:

backsliding; lapse; lapsing; relapse; relapsing; reversion; reverting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("relapse" is a kind of...):

failure (an act that fails)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "relapse"):

recidivism (habitual relapse into crime)

Derivation:

relapse (go back to bad behavior)

relapse (deteriorate in health)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Go back to bad behavior

Example:

Those who recidivate are often minor criminals

Synonyms:

fall back; lapse; recidivate; regress; relapse; retrogress

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

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

regress; retrovert; return; revert; turn back (go back to a previous state)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

relapse; relapsing (a failure to maintain a higher state)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Deteriorate in health

Example:

he relapsed

Synonyms:

get worse; relapse

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

relapse (a failure to maintain a higher state)

Credits

 Context examples: 

He relapsed into a silent reverie, which lasted until the slow train drew up at last in Woolwich Station.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It has a long clinical course with relapses and remissions.

(Pars Planitis, NCI Thesaurus)

A KIT tyrosine kinase inhibitor, imatinib mesylate (also known as STI-571 or Gleevec), is now effective in the treatment of relapsed and unresectable GIST.

(Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor of the Gastrointestinal Tract, NCI Thesaurus)

A regimen consisting of fludarabine and cyclophosphamide used as initial treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL); also used for the treatment of relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma.

(FC Regimen, NCI Thesaurus)

This agent may improve neurocognitive function in mild and moderate Alzheimer' s disease and may reduce abstinence-induced cognitive symptoms that promote smoking relapse.

(Galantamine Hydrobromide, NCI Thesaurus)

A KIT tyrosine kinase inhibitor, imatinib mesylate (also known as STI-571 or Gleevec), is now effective in the treatment of relapsed and unresectable cases.

(Gastrointestinal stromal tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

Now I am clear again, though I dare not think of it too much for fear of a relapse.

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

Genetic variation may be associated with the relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

(ADD3 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Fanny was silent, and Miss Crawford relapsed into thoughtfulness, till suddenly looking up at the end of a few minutes, she exclaimed, “Ah! here he is.”

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“You wouldn't relapse, if you were going out?” asked somebody else.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)