Ebb

/ɛb/ · noun

Meaning

The receding movement of the tide..

Definitions by Sense

1. The receding movement of the tide.
2. A gradual decline.
3. (especially in the phrase 'at a low ebb') A low state; a state of depression.
4. A European bunting, the corn bunting (Emberiza calandra, syns. Emberiza miliaria, Milaria calandra).
5. low, shallow
6. (intransitive) to flow back or recede
7. (intransitive) to fall away or decline
8. (intransitive) to fish with stakes and nets that serve to prevent the fish from getting back into the sea with the ebb

Example Sentences

The boats will go out on the ebb.

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

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.

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.

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

Painting was then at its lowest ebb.

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.

Synonyms for ebb

Antonyms for ebb

Related Words

Word Forms

• ebbs
• ebbe
• ebber
• ebbest
• ebbing
• ebbed

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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