tide

¹ American  

[tahyd] / taɪd /

noun

• tides
  plural

1. the periodic rise and fall of the waters of the ocean and its inlets, produced by the attraction of the moon and sun, and occurring about every 12 hours.

2. the inflow, outflow, or current of water at any given place resulting from the waves of tides.

3. flood tide.

4. a stream or current.

5. anything that alternately rises and falls, increases and decreases, etc..

   the tide of the seasons.

6. current, tendency, or drift, as of events or ideas.

   the tide of international events.

7. any extreme or critical period or condition.

   The tide of her illness is at its height.

8. a season or period in the course of the year, day, etc. (now used chiefly in combination).

   wintertide; eventide.

9. Ecclesiastical. a period of time that includes and follows an anniversary, festival, etc.

10. Archaic. a suitable time or occasion.

11. Obsolete. an extent of time.

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verb (used without object)

tided, tiding

1. to flow as the tide; flow to and fro.

2. to float or drift with the tide.

verb (used with object)

tided, tiding

1. to carry, as the tide does.

verb phrase

1. tide over

   1. to assist in getting over a period of difficulty or distress.

   2. to surmount (a difficulty, obstacle, etc.); survive.

idioms

1. turn the tide, to reverse the course of events, especially from one extreme to another.

   The Battle of Saratoga turned the tide of the American Revolution.

tide ² American  

[tahyd] / taɪd /

verb (used without object)

Archaic.

tided, tiding

1. to happen or befall.

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tide ¹ British  

/ taɪd /

verb

1. archaic (intr) to happen

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tide ² British  

/ taɪd /

noun

1. the cyclic rise and fall of sea level caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon. There are usually two high tides and two low tides in each lunar day See also tide-generating force neap tide spring tide

2. the current, ebb, or flow of water at a specified place resulting from these changes in level

   the tide is coming in

3. See ebb flood

4. a widespread tendency or movement

   the tide of resentment against the government

5. a critical point in time; turning point

   the tide of his fortunes

6. dialect a fair or holiday

7. (in combination) a season or time

   Christmastide

8. rare any body of mobile water, such as a stream

9. archaic a favourable opportunity

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verb

1. to carry or be carried with or as if with the tide

2. (intr) to ebb and flow like the tide

tide Scientific  

/ tīd /

1. The regular rise and fall in the surface level of the Earth's oceans, seas, and bays caused by the gravitational attraction of the Moon and to a lesser extent of the Sun. The maximum high tides (or spring tides) occur when the Moon and Sun are directly aligned with Earth, so that their gravitational pull on Earth's waters is along the same line and is reinforced. The lowest high tides (or neap tides) occur when the Moon and Sun are at right angles to each other, so that their gravitational pull on Earth's waters originates from two different directions and is mitigated. Tides vary greatly by region and are influenced by sea-floor topography, storms, and water currents.

2. See also ebb tide flood tide neap tide spring tide

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tide More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing tide

• stem the tide
• swim against the current (tide)
• swim with the tide
• time and tide
• turn of the tide

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tidelessness
  noun
• tideful
  adjective
• tideless
  adjective
• tidelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tides
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tide¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English tīd “time, hour”; cognate with Dutch tijd, German Zeit, Old Norse tīth; akin to time

Origin of tide²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English tiden, Old English tīdan; see betide

Explanation

The tide is the daily rise and fall of the sea level. You can count on the regular changing patterns of the tide, unless of course a tsunami is headed your way. In a figurative sense, tide can mean a rising swell of support or unified feeling about a certain opinion or topic. So you may surf at high tide but also enjoy the rising tide of enthusiasm about surfing. If there is a wave of anything — immigration, inflation, terror — it can be referred to as a tide. No surfboards can navigate those tricky waves.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tide tides tided tiding

“But if the tide were to shift on that capex, then that would present some challenges for economic growth, not just in the United States, but globally as well.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

Those include a growing tide of government debt testing the limits of investor demand, the artificial-intelligence investment boom that is powering economic growth, and rising trade barriers that are pushing up inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Bow, from Bridgend, said he had been walking along the beach in the Vale of Glamorgan at low tide in the spring of 2012 when he had spotted "what looked to be a jaw".

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

"This storm is expected to bring major coastal flooding to the Mid-Atlantic Coast over multiple high tide cycles through the weekend," the National Weather Service said in its latest forecast.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

With his sharp vision, he searched for any last traces of the poison tide.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

In September, high tides and powerful wave activity from Hurricane Marie buffeted the San Clemente coastline, temporarily halting Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink service after more erosion and slope damage was spotted near the train tracks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

“As tides change and sand erodes over time, it is common for military ordnance to reveal itself at this location,” the post stated.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

Some locals in the mainly conservative Pahrump region are concerned about the change in tides.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

Two hurricanes churning in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico are sending high surf toward Southern California that will overlap with unusually high tides, bringing hazards for beachgoers and possible coastal flooding.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

The Moon controlled the tides, the life cycles of many animals, and perhaps the human menstrual' period—of central importance for a passionate species devoted to having children.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

The invention has tided him over as the semester ended this week.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2025

These experiences filled his time on the rigs, and tided over his growing impatience about his university aspirations being placed on hold until this assignment was over.

From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2023

They then went back to their changing room, showered and changed, tided up, removed the rubbish and left a note for ground staff reading “thank you” in Russian.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 15, 2018

Co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss tided us over with a Victorian-set Sherlock Christmas special last winter, but we’re ready to see the modern Sherlock take on the mysteriously resurrected Moriarty.

From Time ● Jul. 20, 2016

It wasn’t enough for Vonetta to say her poem, which was actually Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem tided “We Real Cool.”

From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia

She was proved correct, and was tiding up broken statues when spoke to the BBC.

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2025

No. It’s an appetizer for better things to come, an amuse-bouche at best — at worst, a placeholder meal of cinematic comfort food, tiding us all over until it’s summer blockbuster season again.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 2023

That’s not much, but it’s still the best discount available on the classic VR-reimagining of the Capcom classic, tiding you over before the new remake comes out in 2023.

From The Verge ● Jun. 20, 2022

The role wasn’t new for her, but the honor of precedence might have been a good tiding.

From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2021

This is beginning to look like a plan: from maids’ service to something better, with the nursing home tiding me over during the transition.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

Related Words

• flood
• spate
• stream
• tendency
• torrent
• trend
• undercurrent
• wave