ebb
Americannoun
verb
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(of tide water) to flow back or recede Compare flow
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to fall away or decline
noun
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the flowing back of the tide from high to low water or the period in which this takes place
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( as modifier ) Compare flood
the ebb tide
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in a state or period of weakness, lack of vigour, or decline
Other Word Forms
- unebbed adjective
- unebbing adjective
Etymology
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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Just like a grain market flooded with supply after a bumper crop, the price of the dollar would fall against the local currency—until, perhaps, a balance in trade was restored and the flood ebbed.
The government’s enforcement of social restrictions has ebbed and flowed over the decades in response to the political mood.
Even as Chinatown’s energy has ebbed and flowed, food has been a steady siren song.
Hands fold together on “Weltita” as waves ebb and flow, and the warmth of a grandparent’s final forehead kiss lingers on “DTMF.”
From Los Angeles Times
“There’s always these ebbs and flows,” Brown said.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
