high tide
Americannoun
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high tides
plural
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the tide at its highest level of elevation.
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the time of high water.
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a culminating point.
the high tide of the revolution.
noun
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the tide at its highest level
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the time at which it reaches this
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a culminating point
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The tide when it is at its highest level at a particular time and place. The highest tides reached under normal meteorological conditions (the spring tides) take place when the Moon and Sun are directly aligned with respect to Earth. High tides are less extreme (the neap tides) when the Moon and Sun are at right angles. Storms and other meteorological conditions can greatly affect the height of the tides as well.
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See more at tide
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The time at which a high tide occurs.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of high tide
before 1000; Middle English; Old English
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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.
“Flooding of seawater is likely, around the time of high tide, over vulnerable low-lying coastal areas such as parking lots, beaches, and walkways,” the weather service office in Oxnard said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
The US West Coast is more at risk of high tide flooding.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
It is the only nearby exposure of rock from that time, and much of it is submerged at high tide.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2026
But at St Cwyfan's Church off Anglesey, the problems are altogether different - with guests wondering if high tide will cut the bride off from her big day completely.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
In the accompanying letter, Martha wrote that she had found the pebble on the Jersey shoreline, precisely where the land touched water at high tide, where things came together but also separated.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
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.
