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lapse rate
noun
: the adiabatic rate of decrease of atmospheric temperature with increasing altitude
Examples of lapse rate in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Insurers counted on policy lapse rates — people giving up their policies or defaulting on payments — of about 4 percent annually.
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Jonel Aleccia, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2023
This is called the lapse rate.
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Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2022
Rather than endure the metropolis’s dog-day heat, the smart money—like Beijing’s Quing emperors or Fifth Avenue railroad tycoons—ascended to the nearest mountain top to take full advantage of the lapse rate.
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Andrew Nelson, WSJ, 10 Aug. 2022
That created a very intense lapse rate in the atmosphere, where air temperature decreased very rapidly with altitude.
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Robin George Andrews, National Geographic, 13 Aug. 2019
At Genworth, McInerney says, the lapse rate is only 0.7%, which seems to be close to the industry average.
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Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2019
Insurers didn’t wake up to the triple whammy of low investment returns, underestimated lapse rates and unexpectedly long-lived claims for decades, when customers reached their 70s and 80s and began filing claims.
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Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2019
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Word History
First Known Use
1918, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near lapse rate
Cite this Entry
“Lapse rate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lapse%20rate. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
More from Merriam-Webster on lapse rate
Britannica English: Translation of lapse rate for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about lapse rate
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