ebb
/ɛb
/noun (usually the ebb)
The movement of the tide out to sea: the tide was on the ebb [as modifier]: the ebb tide...
- The hardest thing about this lock is if you have a boat coming in on the ebb tide.
- If you must go out on to the sands go out when the tide is on the ebb so that if you do get stuck we have a chance of getting you out.
- The tide was on the ebb, the sand was firm and wide.
Synonyms
receding, going out, flowing back, retreat, retreating, drawing back, abating, subsiding
rare retrocession
verb [no object]
1(Of tidewater) move away from the land; recede: the tide began to ebb...Compare with flow.
- The tide that had risen some time ago, the house had sunk in it, but now the water had ebbed and the man was where he should have been - on the shore.
- When the high water ebbs and the water in the lagoon and the sea reach the same level, the gates are filled once again with water until they return to their original position.
- These might contain a couple of feet of water or a mere stream when the tide ebbs, but quickly become deep, surging rivers of seawater when it flows.
Synonyms
recede, go out, retreat, flow back, draw back, fall back, fall away, abate, subside
rare retrocede
2(Of an emotion or quality) gradually decrease: my enthusiasm was ebbing away...
- I closed my eyes and gradually felt the hurt and disappointment ebbing away when I felt his arms enveloping me, encasing me in his warmth.
- He sighed, a bit of the anger ebbing away from his countenance.
- I breathe deeply and slowly, and gradually the sinking feeling ebbs and I lift my head.
Synonyms
diminish, dwindle, wane, fade away, melt away, peter out, decline, die away, die down, die out, flag, let up, lessen, decrease, weaken, dissolve, disappear, come to an end;
deteriorate, decay, degenerate
archaic remit
abatement, subsiding, easing, waning, dwindling, petering out, dying away, dying down, dying out, fading away, de-escalation, decrease, decline, diminution, diminishing, lessening
Phrases
at a low ebb
ebb and flow
Origin
Old English ebba (noun), ebbian (verb), of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch ebbe (noun), ebben (verb), and ultimately to of which had the primary sense 'away from'.