tide
1 Americannoun
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tides
plural
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the periodic rise and fall of the waters of the ocean and its inlets, produced by the attraction of the moon and sun, and occurring about every 12 hours.
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the inflow, outflow, or current of water at any given place resulting from the waves of tides.
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a stream or current.
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anything that alternately rises and falls, increases and decreases, etc..
the tide of the seasons.
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current, tendency, or drift, as of events or ideas.
the tide of international events.
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any extreme or critical period or condition.
The tide of her illness is at its height.
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a season or period in the course of the year, day, etc. (now used chiefly in combination).
wintertide; eventide.
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Ecclesiastical. a period of time that includes and follows an anniversary, festival, etc.
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Archaic. a suitable time or occasion.
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Obsolete. an extent of time.
verb (used without object)
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to flow as the tide; flow to and fro.
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to float or drift with the tide.
verb (used with object)
verb phrase
idioms
verb (used without object)
verb
noun
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the cyclic rise and fall of sea level caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon. There are usually two high tides and two low tides in each lunar day See also tide-generating force neap tide spring tide
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the current, ebb, or flow of water at a specified place resulting from these changes in level
the tide is coming in
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a widespread tendency or movement
the tide of resentment against the government
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a critical point in time; turning point
the tide of his fortunes
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dialect a fair or holiday
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(in combination) a season or time
Christmastide
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rare any body of mobile water, such as a stream
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archaic a favourable opportunity
verb
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to carry or be carried with or as if with the tide
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(intr) to ebb and flow like the tide
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The regular rise and fall in the surface level of the Earth's oceans, seas, and bays caused by the gravitational attraction of the Moon and to a lesser extent of the Sun. The maximum high tides (or spring tides) occur when the Moon and Sun are directly aligned with Earth, so that their gravitational pull on Earth's waters is along the same line and is reinforced. The lowest high tides (or neap tides) occur when the Moon and Sun are at right angles to each other, so that their gravitational pull on Earth's waters originates from two different directions and is mitigated. Tides vary greatly by region and are influenced by sea-floor topography, storms, and water currents.
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See also ebb tide flood tide neap tide spring tide
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tide1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English tīd “time, hour”; cognate with Dutch tijd, German Zeit, Old Norse tīth; akin to time
Origin of tide2
First recorded before 1000; Middle English tiden, Old English tīdan; see betide
Explanation
The tide is the daily rise and fall of the sea level. You can count on the regular changing patterns of the tide, unless of course a tsunami is headed your way. In a figurative sense, tide can mean a rising swell of support or unified feeling about a certain opinion or topic. So you may surf at high tide but also enjoy the rising tide of enthusiasm about surfing. If there is a wave of anything — immigration, inflation, terror — it can be referred to as a tide. No surfboards can navigate those tricky waves.
Vocabulary lists containing tide
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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.
See Examples For:
The weight of the Japanese numbers eventually turned the tide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The tide turned when Rosales was offered a full scholarship to art school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
He has swum against the tide and now he is very much in the train of modern football, and at the front.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
The center warned that the combination of a storm surge and tide could flood normally dry areas near the coast in Kauai and Niihau, and a flash flood warning was issued for Kauai on Monday.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
“Brightbill and I could fly above the poison tide and see where it leads.”
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
An autopsy found Noah had died from drowning, with the tunnel he was found in heading towards Belfast Lough and its tides.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
What’s striking about Tropical Storm Marie spinning far offshore is that it pushed powerful waves on top of unusually high tides.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Long Beach officials concerned about structural damage from usually high tides driven by Tropical Storm Marie evacuated some 20 homes along the Long Beach Peninsula Monday evening.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Over the weekend, south-facing beaches in the cities of Long Beach and Malibu were hit hard by a combination of high swells, higher-than-high tides and tropical-storm-charged waves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
I swallow hard, thinking of the millions of times he opened that watch to check the tides.
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The invention has tided him over as the semester ended this week.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2025
The review concluded that the music of “Ukrainia” did suggest “the colossal wealth of youthful and untouched vitality which had tided over centuries of the most tragic history in the world.”
From Slate ● Dec. 19, 2019
They then went back to their changing room, showered and changed, tided up, removed the rubbish and left a note for ground staff reading “thank you” in Russian.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 15, 2018
Co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss tided us over with a Victorian-set Sherlock Christmas special last winter, but we’re ready to see the modern Sherlock take on the mysteriously resurrected Moriarty.
From Time ● Jul. 20, 2016
It wasn’t enough for Vonetta to say her poem, which was actually Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem tided “We Real Cool.”
From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia
She was proved correct, and was tiding up broken statues when spoke to the BBC.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2025
No. It’s an appetizer for better things to come, an amuse-bouche at best — at worst, a placeholder meal of cinematic comfort food, tiding us all over until it’s summer blockbuster season again.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 2023
That’s not much, but it’s still the best discount available on the classic VR-reimagining of the Capcom classic, tiding you over before the new remake comes out in 2023.
From The Verge ● Jun. 20, 2022
It was the last get-together of the year, and a warm and caloric tiding for the new one about to begin.
From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 2013
This is beginning to look like a plan: from maids’ service to something better, with the nursing home tiding me over during the transition.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
