elapse

/ɪˈlæps/ (bre, ipa) · [ɪlˈæps] /ɪˈlæps/ (ame, ipa) · [ɪlˈæps] /i-ˈlaps How to pronounce elapse (audio)/ (ame, mw)

elapse — verb

  • elapsepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • elapseshe / she / it
  • elapsedpast simple
  • elapsing-ing form

1. for a stretch of time to go by before something else happens.

1.動詞不及物C1
釋義

for a stretch of time to go by before something else happens.

例句

Three weeks elapsed before the lab emailed Kenji the test results.

time period + elapsed before a later event

By the time two hours had elapsed, the snowplow still had not arrived.

by the time + period + had elapsed

同義詞
  • pass

    more neutral and much more common in everyday English

  • go by

    more conversational and common in speech

  • slip by

    suggests time passes quietly or faster than expected

文法句型

time period + elapse

by the time + time period + has or had elapsed

time period + elapse + between A and B

用法筆記

The subject is usually a period such as minutes, hours, days, or years. It is more formal than pass or go by and is common in reports, notices, and legal writing.

常見錯誤

❌I elapsed two hours at the station.
✅I spent two hours at the station.
💡'elapse' is intransitive, so the time period is the subject.
❌Two hours were elapsed before help came.
✅Two hours elapsed before help came.
💡'elapse' is not normally used in the passive.