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View synonyms for ebb

ebb

[ eb ]

noun

  1. the flowing back of the tide as the water returns to the sea ( flood, flow ).
  2. a flowing backward or away; decline or decay:

    the ebb of a once great nation.

  3. a point of decline:

    His fortunes were at a low ebb.



verb (used without object)

  1. to flow back or away, as the water of a tide ( flow ).

    Synonyms: retire, recede, abate, subside

  2. to decline or decay; fade away:

    His life is gradually ebbing.

    Synonyms: decrease, diminish, dwindle

ebb

/ ɛb /

verb

  1. (of tide water) to flow back or recede Compare flow
  2. to fall away or decline
“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


noun

    1. the flowing back of the tide from high to low water or the period in which this takes place
    2. ( as modifier ) Compare flood

      the ebb tide

  1. at a low ebb
    in a state or period of weakness, lack of vigour, or decline
“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
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Other Words From

  • un·ebbed adjective
  • un·ebbing adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ebb1

before 1000; (noun) Middle English eb ( be ), Old English ebba; cognate with Old Frisian ebba, Dutch eb ( be ), German Ebbe ebb, Old Norse efja place where water backs up; (v.) Middle English ebben, Old English ebbian, derivative of the noun; akin to off
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ebb1

Old English ebba; related to Old Norse efja river bend, Gothic ibuks moving backwards, Old High German ippihōn to roll backwards, Middle Dutch ebbe ebb
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Idioms and Phrases

  • at a low ebb
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Example Sentences

Ebb and flow, checks and balances, the center would hold, et cetera.

Analyzing the ebb and flow of the race, Howie said Weiland has positive momentum but Rounds is collapsing.

Perhaps this accounts for the ebb and flow of her popularity.

But Shrier noted that undergarment trends tend to “ebb and flow.”

Diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia are at a disturbingly low ebb.

Having passed all the dangers, the ebb-tide very soon carried us out of the river into Hanover Bay.

The ebb tide after noon was against us, and the wind being light, we were making no progress.

We cross over the bridges that span salty channels, oozy and redolent of ocean and sea-weed during the hours of ebb.

Russian opera was then at a low ebb, and he only went to hear his favourite work, A Life for the Tsar.

Every emotion, unless it be that of love, must have its ebb; and by nightfall the settlers were returning to their old caution.

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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.

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