Elapse Meaning
/ɪˈlæps/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo pass or move by.
Sentence Examples
Only an hour would elapse before all the water had evaporated.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Several minutes must ____ before the alarm will trigger automatically.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Only an hour would ____ before all the water had evaporated.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French elapser, from Latin elapsus.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The week that was yet to elapse, she spent in wandering through her uncle's favourite walks in hours of tearful vigil, beside his tomb, and in collecting together every trifle on which he had set a value."
— 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Remembrance of the Dead”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 322:
"Many years elapsed before the success of Kemp Town as a residential district was assured; the foundations of the estate were laid in 1823, but some houses remained untenanted until the 1850s."
— 1952 December, R. C. Riley, “By Rail to Kemp Town”, in Railway Magazine, page 832:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Several minutes must ____ before the alarm will trigger automatically.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Only an hour would ____ before all the water had evaporated.