neap

[neep]

adjective

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

noun

neap tide.

Origin of neap

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

neap

[neep]

noun New England.

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

Origin of neap

1545–55 origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for neap

Historical Examples of neap

So we have spring tides regularly once a fortnight, with neap tides in between.
Pioneers of Science
Oliver Lodge
The spring tides occur at the syzygies: the neap tides at the quadratures.
Letters on Astronomy
Denison Olmsted
A ship grounding in a very low tide (neap) is still said to be neaped.
The Bruce
John Barbour
Height of neap and spring tides, at full and change of the moon.
The Voyage Of Governor Phillip To Botany Bay
Arthur Phillip
The spring tide is lunar plus solar; the neap tide is lunar minus solar.
Pioneers of Science
Oliver Lodge

British Dictionary definitions for neap

neap

adjective

of, relating to, or constituting a neap tide

noun

short for neap tide

Word Origin for neap

Old English, as in nēpflōd neap tide, of uncertain origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for neap

adj.

Middle English, from Old English nepflod "neap flood," the tide occurring at the end of the first and third quarters of the lunar month, in which high waters are at their lowest, of unknown origin, with no known cognates (Danish niptid probably is from English). Original sense perhaps is "without power." As a noun from 1580s.