ebb — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The receding movement of the tide.

   Examples

   The boats will go out on the ebb.

   Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow / Claspest the limits of morality!

   More examples (1)

   Men come from distant parts to admire the tides of Solway, which race in at flood and retreat at ebb with a greater speed than a horse can follow.

2. A gradual decline.

   Examples

   Thus all the treasure of our flowing years, / Our ebb of life for ever takes away.

   This reflection thawed my congealing blood, and again the tide of life and love flowed impetuously onward, again to ebb as my busy thoughts changed.

   More examples (1)

   Industrialism hasn’t been an abiding set of activities in any particular place but rather a dynamic cycle, of takeoff, peak, and ebb.

3. A low state; a state of depression.

   Usage

   • especially
   • in the phrase 'at a low ebb'

   Examples

   Painting was then at its lowest ebb.

   More examples (2)

   A "lowest ebb" implies something singular and finite, but for many of us, born in the Depression and raised by parents distrustful of fortune, an "ebb" might easily have lasted for years.

   The 1987 book British Piers was written at a time when Britain's seaside resorts were perhaps at their lowest ebb, with a groundswell of support for rejuvenation and conservation just beginning.

4. A European bunting, the corn bunting (Emberiza calandra, syns. Emberiza miliaria, Milaria calandra).

Adjective

1. low, shallow

   Examples

   All the sea lying betweene, is verie ebbe, full of shallowes and shelves

Verb

1. to flow back or recede

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Synonyms

   go outgo downoozerefluxwane

   Examples

   The tides ebbed at noon.

2. to fall away or decline

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Examples

   The dying man's strength ebbed away.

3. to fish with stakes and nets that serve to prevent the fish from getting back into the sea with the ebb

   Usage

   • Intransitive

4. To cause to flow back.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   Parts of this town do not want a big influx of gay people and are trying to ebb it.

Noun

1. a gradual decline (in size or strength or power or number)

   Synonyms

   ebbingwane

   Broader terms

   declinediminution

2. the outward flow of the tide

   Synonyms

   reflux

   Broader terms

   flowflowing

Verb

1. flow back or recede

   Synonyms

   ebb awayebb downebb outebb off

   Antonyms

   tide

   Broader terms

   fall back

   Examples

   the tides ebbed at noon

2. hem in fish with stakes and nets so as to prevent them from going back into the sea with the ebb

   Broader terms

   besiegebeleaguersurroundhem incircumvent

3. fall away or decline

   Broader terms

   recede

   Examples

   The patient's strength ebbed away