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Relapse

//ɹɪˈlæps// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act or situation of relapsing.

    "a drug relapse"

  2. 2
    a failure to maintain a higher state wordnet
  3. 3
    An occasion when a person becomes ill again after a period of improvement
  4. 4
    One who has relapsed, or fallen back into error; a backslider. obsolete
Verb
  1. 1
    To fall back again; to slide or turn back into a former state or practice. intransitive

    "He has improved recently but keeps relapsing into states of utter confusion."

  2. 2
    go back to bad behavior wordnet
  3. 3
    To recur; to worsen, be aggravated (after a period of improvement). intransitive
  4. 4
    deteriorate in health wordnet
  5. 5
    To return to a vice, especially self-harm or alcoholism, failing to maintain abstinence. informal, intransitive, specifically

    "relapsed after 5 months of being clean"

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    To slip or slide back physically; to turn back.

    "You slip your hold and change your side, Relapsing from a necessary guide."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Latin relapsus, past participle of relabi (“to slide back, fall back”), from re- (“back”) + labi (“to slip, slide, fall”).

Etymology 2

From Latin relapsus, past participle of relabi (“to slide back, fall back”), from re- (“back”) + labi (“to slip, slide, fall”).

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