ebb tide
Americannoun
-
The period between high tide and low tide during which water flows away from the shore.
-
Also called falling tide
-
Compare flood tide See more at tide
Etymology
Origin of ebb tide
First recorded in 1830–40
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.
For the first four hours, she was lucky: An ebb tide carried her about 10 miles.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2024
In coasts with large tidal differences, water collects in "rock pools" that warm up quickly on the ebb tide before the next flood washes in with colder seawater.
From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2024
Some years, it feels like weirdness and experimentation in the Seattle theater/performance world is at an ebb tide.
From Seattle Times • May 31, 2019
At these locations of extreme tidal range, a person who ventures out onto the seafloor exposed during ebb tide may not be able to outrun the advancing water during flood tide.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017
Or the ebb tide when a white-sided dolphin stranded on our shore, Osh gone somewhere, and I came back from Cuttyhunk to find her rocking and heaving, her cries babylike and afraid.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
![]()
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.