Adjacent Words

Relapse definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RELAPSE, v.i. relaps'. [L. relapsus, relabor, to slide back; re and labor, to slide.]
1. To slip or slide back; to return.
2. To fall back; to return to a former state or practice; as, to relapse into vice or error after amendment.
3. To fall back or return from recovery or a convalescent state; as, to relapse into a fever.
RELAPSE, n. relaps'. A sliding or falling back, particularly into a former bad state, either of body or of morals; as a relapse into a disease from a convalescent state; a relapse into a vicious course of life. [In the sense of a person relapsing, not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a failure to maintain a higher state [syn: backsliding, lapse, lapsing, relapse, relapsing, reversion, reverting] v
1: deteriorate in health; "he relapsed" [syn: get worse, relapse] [ant: bounce back, get over, get well]
2: go back to bad behavior; "Those who recidivate are often minor criminals" [syn: relapse, lapse, recidivate, regress, retrogress, fall back]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin relapsus, from Latin relabi to slide back, from re- + labi to slide — more at sleep Date: 15th century 1. the act or an instance of backsliding, worsening, or subsiding 2. a recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement II. intransitive verb (relapsed; relapsing) Date: circa 1534 1. to slip or fall back into a former worse state 2. sink, subside <relapse into deep thought> • relapser noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.intr. (usu. foll. by into) fall back or sink again (into a worse state after an improvement). --n. also the act or an instance of relapsing, esp. a deterioration in a patient's condition after a partial recovery. Phrases and idioms: relapsing fever a bacterial infectious disease with recurrent periods of fever. Derivatives: relapser n. Etymology: L relabi relaps- (as RE-, labi slip)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Relapse Re*lapse", n. [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 backslider; specifically, one who, after recanting error, returns to it again. [Obs.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Relapse Re*lapse" (r?-l?ps"), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Relapsed (-l?pst"); p. pr. & vb. n. Relapsing.] [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 relapse 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.) 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(relapses, relapsing, relapsed) 1. If you say that someone relapses into a way of behaving that is undesirable, you mean that they start to behave in that way again. 'I wish I did,' said Phil Jordan, relapsing into his usual gloom... VERB: V into n • Relapse is also a noun. ...a relapse into the nationalism of the nineteenth century. N-COUNT: oft N into n 2. If a sick person relapses, their health suddenly gets worse after it had been improving. In 90 per cent of cases the patient will relapse within six months. VERB: V • Relapse is also a noun. The treatment is usually given to women with a high risk of relapse after surgery... N-VAR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. Fall back, return to a former state (especially a bad state), backslide. II. n. 1. Falling back, return to a former state (especially a bad state), lapse, backsliding. 2. Falling back, return to a former state.

Moby Thesaurus

about-face, apostasy, backing, backset, backslide, backsliding, backward motion, backward step, cock, decline, degenerate, degeneration, deteriorate, deterioration, disenchantment, disimprove, fade, fading, fail, failing, failure, fall, fall again into, fall astern, fall back, fall behind, fall from grace, falling back, flip-flop, get back, get behind, get worse, go back, go backwards, go behind, grow worse, have a relapse, jerk back, lapse, lapse back, lapsing, let down, lose ground, pull back, reaction, recede, recession, recidivate, recidivation, recidivism, reclamation, reconversion, recur to, reentry, refluence, reflux, regress, regressing, regression, rehabilitation, reinstatement, restitution, restoration, retreat, retroaction, retrocede, retrocession, retroflex, retroflexion, retrogradation, retrograde, retrogress, retrogression, retroversion, retrovert, retrusion, return, return to, returning, reversal, reverse, reversion, revert, revert to, reverting, revulsion, rollback, setback, sicken, sink, sink back, sinking, slacken, slide back, slip back, slipping back, sternway, throwback, turn, turnabout, weaken, weakening, worsen, worsening, yield again to