RELAPSE, verb intransitive relaps'. [Latin 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, noun 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.]