EBB • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Ebb

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noun

Ebb n. (Zoöl.) The European bunting.

Ebb n.

The reflux or flowing back of the tide; the return of the tidal wave toward the sea; opposed to flood; as, the boats will go out on the ebb. "Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow Claspest the limits of morality!"

The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; low state or condition; decline; decay. "Our ebb of life." "Painting was then at its lowest ebb."

Ebb and flow, the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively. "This alternation between unhealthy activity and depression, this ebb and flow of the industrial."

verb

Ebb v. t. To cause to flow back. (Obs.)

Ebb v. i. (past & past part. ebbed; pres. part. ebbing)

To flow back; to return, as the water of a tide toward the ocean; opposed to flow. "That Power who bids the ocean ebb and flow."

To return or fall back from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay; to recede. "The hours of life ebb fast."

Synonyms: To recede; retire; withdraw; decay; decrease; wane; sink; lower.

adjective

Ebb adj. Receding; going out; falling; shallow; low. "The water there is otherwise very low and ebb."

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Etymology of 'Ebb'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Ebb" Quotes from Famous Books

... Wessex makes headway enough to be owned as overlord of England by them. Now therefore is there one place in all England where peace has come, and to that place I would go to end my days. Here in London the tide of war will ebb and flow ever. Let me go down with you to Reedham, my son, that I ...

— Wulfric the Weapon Thane • Charles W. Whistler

... out in the stream away from the dock, captain," ordered Handy, when they were ready to start. "The tide is nearly flood and we can drop down the river with the first of the ebb. We can get outside early and then determine where next ...

— A Pirate of Parts • Richard Neville

... church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, in the heart of Venice. There, in the dim quietness of the old church, they lie at rest together, undisturbed by the voices of the passers-by in the square outside, or the lapping of the water against the steps, as the tides ebb and flow ...

— Knights of Art - Stories of the Italian Painters • Amy Steedman

... habits before they fade away. Says James in his remarkable chapter on Instinct: "In all pedagogy the great thing is to strike while the iron is hot, and to seize the wave of the pupils' interest in each successive subject before its ebb has come, so that knowledge may be got and a habit of skill acquired—a headway of interest, in short, secured, on which afterwards the individual may float. There is a happy moment for fixing skill in drawing, for making boys collectors in natural history, ...

— The Mind and Its Education • George Herbert Betts

... think of sleeping, much more of talking. We were absorbed by more or less gloomy thoughts. It was the night before the battle, with the difference that nothing forced us to engage in the struggle. Two sorts of ideas struggled in the mind. It was the ebb and flow of the sea, each in its turn. Objections to the venture were not wanting. Why run so much danger? If we succeeded, of what advantage would it be? If an accident happened, how we should regret it! Then the imagination set to work; all the mountain catastrophes ...

— A Winter Amid the Ice - and Other Thrilling Stories • Jules Verne

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