neap

¹ American  

[neep] / nip /

adjective

1. designating tides midway between spring tides that attain the least height.

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noun

1. neap tide.

neap ² American  

[neep] / nip /

noun

New England.

1. the pole or tongue of a cart, wagon, etc., drawn by two animals side by side.

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neap British  

/ niːp /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or constituting a neap tide

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noun

1. short for neap tide

Etymology

Origin of neap¹

before 900; Middle English neep, Old English nēp-, in nēpflōd neap tide

Origin of neap²

1545–55 origin uncertain

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

neap

The smallest tides, called neap tides, occur when the Sun is at a 90º angle to the Earth-Moon alignment.

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

Last week's was not only ebb but neap tide.

From Time Magazine Archive

There was a neap tide, and the current was near slack.

From Time Magazine Archive

In crossing, I found a most rapid tide, at least five or six knots at neap tides, and to pull against it was out of the question.

From Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836 Volume I. - Proceedings of the First Expedition, 1826-1830 by Robert Fitzroy

Maseden noticed that the high-water mark fell daily, so he reasoned that the Southern Cross struck during a high spring tide, and that the neap would occur in fourteen days.

From His Unknown Wife by Louis Tracy