ebb

[eb]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ebb ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the flowing back of the tide as the water returns to the sea (opposed to flood, flow).

a flowing backward or away; decline or decay: the ebb of a once great nation.

a point of decline: His fortunes were at a low ebb.

verb (used without object)

to flow back or away, as the water of a tide (opposed to flow).

to decline or decay; fade away: His life is gradually ebbing.

Origin of ebb

before 1000; (noun) Middle English eb(be), Old English ebba; cognate with Old Frisian ebba, Dutch eb(be), German Ebbe ebb, Old Norse efja place where water backs up; (v.) Middle English ebben, Old English ebbian, derivative of the noun; akin to off

Related formsun·ebbed, adjectiveun·ebb·ing, adjective

Synonyms for ebb

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ebb ON THESAURUS.COM

4. subside, abate, recede, retire. 5. dwindle, diminish, decrease.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ebb

degenerate, slacken, wane, dwindle, lessen, recede, melt, abate, diminish, weaken, shrink, deteriorate, sweep, abatement, decrease, flagging, decay, waning, shrinkage, lessening

Examples from the Web for ebb

Contemporary Examples of ebb

Ebb and flow, checks and balances, the center would hold, et cetera.
A Veteran’s View: NYC Cold War Between Cops and City Hall
Matt Gallagher
December 29, 2014
Analyzing the ebb and flow of the race, Howie said Weiland has positive momentum but Rounds is collapsing.
South Dakota's Bizarre Four-Way (Senate Election, That Is)
Ben Jacobs
October 15, 2014
Perhaps this accounts for the ebb and flow of her popularity.
The Fiction Writer Shirley Jackson Stars in Her Own Novel
Hugh Ryan
June 18, 2014
But Shrier noted that undergarment trends tend to “ebb and flow.”
Kate Middleton’s “Bottomgate” Shows Why Women Still Need Slips
Keli Goff
May 28, 2014
Treat mental health disorders and seemingly random violence will ebb too, the theory goes.
Massacres and Madness
Linda Teplin
December 14, 2013

Historical Examples of ebb

He acquired a general knowledge of the ebb and flow of popular stocks.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
And with those words his charity towards Spurling began to ebb.
Murder Point
Coningsby Dawson
And again and again fell the word, like the ebb of a dying sea.
Howards End
E. M. Forster
On the ebb it'll snake you out into the breakers sure as I'm settin' here tellin' you.
The Woman-Haters
Joseph C. Lincoln
It was like the ebb of a broken wave to those who had heard the sea.
The Shadow of a Crime
Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for ebb

ebb

verb (intr)

(of tide water) to flow back or recedeCompare flow (def. 9)

to fall away or decline

noun

the flowing back of the tide from high to low water or the period in which this takes place
(as modifier)the ebb tide Compare flood (def. 3)

at a low ebb in a state or period of weakness, lack of vigour, or decline

Word Origin for ebb

Old English ebba; related to Old Norse efja river bend, Gothic ibuks moving backwards, Old High German ippihōn to roll backwards, Middle Dutch ebbe ebb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ebb

Old English ebba "ebb, low tide," perhaps from Proto-Germanic *abjon (cf. Old Frisian ebba, Old Saxon ebbiunga, Middle Dutch ebbe, Dutch eb, German Ebbe), from *ab-, from PIE root *apo- "off, away" (see apo-). Figurative sense of "decline, decay" is c.1400.

Old English ebbian, from the root of ebb (n.). Related: Ebbed; ebbing.

Idioms and Phrases with ebb

ebb

In addition to the idioms beginning with ebb

ebb and flow

also see:

at a low ebb