ebb
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.
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
1Other words for ebb
Other words from ebb
- un·ebbed, adjective
- un·ebb·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use ebb in a sentence
Cherise’s vocals add color to the pressures that life brings, while her lyrics offer advice on how to “let loose” to escape the ebb and flow that comes with being anxious about our current times.
Tarriona “Tank” Ball’s Playlist is Pure Friend Goals | Brande Victorian | February 19, 2021 | Essence.comWhile legalized gambling has seen ebbs and flows over the course of American history, no state has enacted a major gambling prohibition in more than a century.
Sports gambling could be the pandemic’s biggest winner | Jonathan D. Cohen | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostThis notion of American opportunity has ebbed and flowed, but generally gained ground well into the 1960s and 1970s.
In the Future We'll All Be Renters: America's Disappearing Middle Class | Joel Kotkin | August 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe fate of many anti-poverty programs has ebbed and flowed ever since.
Marco Rubio Is Wrong: The War on Poverty Worked | Michael Tomasky | January 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs unemployment ebbed, the ranks of long-term jobless calcified, creating two separate job markets.
The more I brooded about these and other Level D options, the more my confidence ebbed.
A Mathematically Impossible Novel: Manil Suri Explains “The City of Devi” | Manil Suri | March 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe crowds who showed up long after the excitement had ebbed were not driven there by ideology.
Thenceforth, it ebbed, though it raged madly for a while in the effort to sweep away the obstruction.
The Red Year | Louis TracyThe flood-tide in the entrance generally ran sixteen hours, and ebbed eight hours.
She trembled, and the blood slowly ebbed from her face, leaving it pale and luminous with a sort of wonder.
The Dragon Painter | Mary McNeil FenollosaThe Rev. Mr. Clarke was now come, an old and valued friend; he knelt and prayed as the life ebbed away.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) | Robert Louis StevensonAt that moment the last of the daylight ebbed, and darkness began to quench the sunset embers.
The Relief of Mafeking | Filson Young
British Dictionary definitions for ebb
/ (ɛb) /
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
Origin of ebb
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with ebb
In addition to the idioms beginning with ebb
- ebb and flow
also see:
- at a low ebb
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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