relapse

present singular third person relapses · participle present relapsing · participle past relapsed · past relapsed

1. intransitiveTo fall back again; to slide or turn back into a former state or practice.

   to relapse into slumber after being disturbed

   3 more examples

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

   to relapse into a stupor, into vice, or into barbarism

   Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

2. intransitivemedicineTo recur; to worsen, be aggravated (after a period of improvement).
3. informalintransitivespecificallyTo return to a vice, especially self-harm or alcoholism, failing to maintain abstinence.

   relapsed after 5 months of being clean

4. To slip or slide back physically; to turn back.

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

   1700, [John] Dryden, “The Hind and the Panther”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

plural relapses

1. The act or situation of relapsing.

   a drug relapse

   1 more example

   Alas! from what high hope to what relapse / Unlooked for are we fallen!

   1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC

2. medicineAn occasion when a person becomes ill again after a period of improvement
3. obsoleteOne who has relapsed, or fallen back into error; a backslider.