August 5, 2011 - Word of the Day: relapse

To relapse is to fall back to a previous position or situation. It's only used when a situation gets worse. As the U.S. stock market continues to tank this week, I thought that this would be a good word of the day.

This is how you use it as a verb:

• Some economic experts fear that the U.S. economy is relapsing and entering a new period of recession.
• Tony quit smoking last year, but recently he has relapsed and now he smokes a few cigarettes every day.

This is how you use it as a noun:

• Immediately after her surgery, her condition improved, but now she's experiencing a bit of a relapse.
• Tanya's relapse towards depression was due to the death of her cat.