ebbn.
/ɛb/, U.S. /ɛb/ 1. The reflux of the tide; the return of tide-water towards the sea. Often in phrase ebb and flow; also tide of ebb, half-quarter-ebb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > change in level of water > [noun] > subsiding or receding
ebba1000
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > tide > type of tide > [noun] > ebbing or flowing out
ebba1000
ebbingc1000
fresha1552
fall1571
vale-water1589
refloat1594
reflow1610
downtide1668
recurrency1724
out1756
retroposition1836
ebb-tide1837
recurrence1857
a1000 Battle of Maldon 65 Þar com flowende flod æfter ebban.
a1123 Anglo-Saxon Chron. anno 1114 On þis geare wæs swa mycel ebba.
1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Langtoft (1810) 106 Þe bodies..wer costen vpon þe sond, After an ebbe of þe flode.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 135 Ebbe of the see, refluxus, salaria.
1561 R. Eden tr. M. Cortés Arte Nauigation ii. xviii. sig. G.ii Whiche the Mariners call nepe tydes, lowe ebbes..or lowe fluddes.
1603 M. Drayton Barrons Wars i. xxxix. 41 As Seuerne lately in her ebbs that sanke.
1665 R. Moray in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 54 The Flood runs East..and the Ebb West.
1763 W. Borlase in Philos. Trans. 1752 (Royal Soc.) 52 418 The sea advancing the first time to a quarter ebb; but the second advance was but as far as the sea reaches at half ebb.
1831 H. T. De la Beche Geol. Man. ii. 68 During the freshets the ebb and flow are little felt.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xxvii. 184 We..made sail, stemming the last of the ebb.
2.
a. transferred and figurative. A flowing away backward or downward; decline, decay; a change from a better to a worse state.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worse > [noun]
damage1300
declinea1327
ebbc1400
mischange1561
dotage1606
failancea1627
fallback1830
downgrade1857
slide1884
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > worse > [noun] > state or condition
ebbc1400
decayc1460
witheredness1535
decadencec1550
autumn1590
fall1590
dotage1606
twilight1609
pejority1615
decadency1632
atrophy1653
effeteness1862
wallow1934
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition
rureOE
ebbingc1200
fallc1225
declinea1327
downfallingc1330
downfalla1400
fall of mana1400
wanea1400
ruinc1405
wrack1426
inclinationc1450
declination1533
labefactation1535
ebb1555
falling off1577
declining1581
inclining1590
declension1604
downset1608
neck-breaka1658
overseta1658
lapsing1665
reducement1667
lapse1680
labefaction1792
downshift1839
subsidence1839
downgrade1857
downturn1858
downslide1889
downswing1922
turn-down1957
tail-off1975
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > backward movement > [noun] > return towards point of departure > flowing back
refluencea1592
refluency1615
reflux1632
ebbing1660
ebb1713
c1400 Test. Love (1560) i. 273/1 That sight..might all my welling sorrowes voide, and of the flood make an ebbe.
1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions Ded. 1 Not coueting to make of my floudde, another manes ebbe.
1652 J. Hall tr. Longinus Περι Ὑψους 20 This..was the Ebbe of his greatnesse.
1713 J. Addison Cato ii. v. 80 To shed the slow remains, His last poor ebb of blood, in your defence.
1823 Ld. Byron Island iii. iv. 52 His faintness came..from..nature's ebb.
1871 A. C. Swinburne in Fortn. Rev. July 43 Her ebbs and flows of passion.
b. A point or condition of decline or depression, esp. in phrases to be at an ebb, at a low, lowest ebb; also to be on the ebb. Also poetic of the eyes, at ebb: dry.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 438 Mine eyes (neuer since at ebbe) beheld..my Father wrack't. View more context for this quotation
1631 T. Powell Tom of All Trades 142 The low water ebbe of the evill day.
1654 T. Warren Vnbeleevers 134 To make the Apostle reason at a very low ebbe.
1763 J. Brown Diss. Poetry & Music vii. 154 Private and public Virtue were at the lowest Ebb.
1798 E. H. Bay Rep. Cases Superior Courts S.-Carolina 36 In 1780, money was at its lowest ebb.
1876 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People (1878) ix. 698 The fortunes of France reached their lowest ebb.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. cix. 580 Metaphysics themselves being now on the ebb in Germany.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > body of water > [noun] > shallow place
shoal839
shoala1400
bank?1473
undeep1513
shelf1545
flat1550
vadea1552
ford1563
shallow1571
shoaling1574
ebbs1577
shelve1582
bridge1624
ballow1677
shamble1769
sharp1776
poling ground1901
sea-shoal1903
1577 R. Holinshed Hist. Eng. 59/2 in Chron. I Brigantines with flat kiles to serue for the ebbes.
4. [? a distinct word.] The Common Bunting, Emberiza miliaria. dialect.
ΚΠ
1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. at Bunting—Common Provincial. Bunting-lark. Ebb.
Compounds
attributive and in other combinations, as ebb-tide, etc. Also ebb-sleeper n. a bird; = dunlin n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > tide > type of tide > [noun] > ebbing or flowing out
ebba1000
ebbingc1000
fresha1552
fall1571
vale-water1589
refloat1594
reflow1610
downtide1668
recurrency1724
out1756
retroposition1836
ebb-tide1837
recurrence1857
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > genus Calidris > calidris alpinus (dunlin)
stint1519
dunlin1531
oxbirda1547
sea-lark1602
purre1611
ox-eye1612
jack snipe1664
spar1668
pickerel1684
sand laverock1694
sandy laverock1710
sea-snipe1767
plover's page1771
sand lark1771
red-back1813
red-backed sandpiper1813
ebb-sleeper1837
oxybird1887
simpleton1890
plover's provider1892
sand-runner1894
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Ebb-water, when there's but little Money in the Pocket.
1837 R. Dunn Ornithol. Orkney & Shetl. 87 Tringa Variabilis, Meyer. Ebb-sleeper, Dunlin.
1837 F. Marryat Snarleyyow (ed. 2) II. ix. 161 They were..swept out of the harbour by the strong ebb tide.
1850 G. Grote Hist. Greece VIII. ii. lxiii. 149 They began to feel as if the ebb-tide had reached its lowest point.
1854 H. Miller My Schools & Schoolmasters (1858) 65 I was introduced also, in our ebb excursions, to the cuttle-fish.
1875 F. G. D. Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. (ed. 2) v. 172 In the English Channel..it is ebb tide in the harbours, while the eastern, or flood stream..is still running up, forming what is known to Pilots as ‘Tide and half Tide’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† ebbadj.
Obsolete exc. dialect.
1.
a. Of water, wells, etc.: Shallow, not deep. With of: Having a small supply, short. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > shallowness > [adjective]
shoal839
undeepc897
shallow14..
ebbc1425
fluec1440
light1556
fleet1629
depthless1816
c1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. iii. 47 Swlway was at þare passyng all Eb.
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng xl. f. 52 The ebber the water is the swifter it is.
c1600 J. Faukener in Alrewas Parish Reg. (2003) I. 21 The water of Trent [was] dried up, and sodenly fallen so ebb.
1637 S. Rutherford Let. in Joshua Redivivus (1664) 28 O how ebbe a soul have I to take in Christs love!
1666 Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 165 When the water is drawn ebb from Fishes.
a1684 R. Leighton Pract. Comm. 1st Epist. Peter (1694) II. 459 This Apostle..drew from too full a spring to be ebb of matter.
1747 Scheme Equip. Men of War 23 Their Tide of Learning..is always ebb.
b. transferred of a furrow; the sides of a vessel, etc.
ΚΠ
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xviii A mayne forowe nat to depe nor to ebbe.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 185/1 A Grey~hound [is] Ebb, or Shallow chested..[when he hath] his breast & body all of a thickness.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 320/1 It is a cooling Vessel..with ebb sides.
1733 P. Lindsay Interest Scotl. 149 Plowed with an ebb Furrow.
1880 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. Will this dish do to make the fitchock pie in? No; it's too ebb.
2. Near the surface.
a. of the sea.
ΚΠ
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 40 A multitude of fishes floted ebbs about it.
1605 Bp. J. Hall Medit. & Vowes II. §13 Whether I bee drowned in the ebber shore, or in the midst of the deepe Sea.
b. of the land; also as quasi-adv.
ΚΠ
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 29 Cumin..hath a qualitie to grow with the root very eb.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. iii. 119 Sometimes it [sc. marl] lyes so ebb..that they plow up the head of it.
1747 W. Hooson Miners Dict. sig. Mivb If Ore be once discovered, and it lie Ebb and Soft.
1794 Bailiff's Diary in Shropshire Word-bk. I am convinced that it is too ebb plow'd.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
ebbv.
/ɛb/, U.S. /ɛb/ 1.
a. intransitive. To flow back or recede, as the water of the sea or a tidal river: frequent in phrase, to ebb and flow. Also with away, down, off, out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > change in level of water > [verb (intransitive)] > recede or subside
ebbOE
wanec1290
withdrawa1300
run?a1425
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > tide > type of tide > types of tide [verb (intransitive)] > ebb
falleOE
ebbOE
wanec1290
reflow1429
to go out1595
to run out1608
refloat1632
OE Genesis 1413 Lago ebbade, sweart under swegle.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 161 Þe sæ floweð and ebbeð.
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 1216 The se, aftir the tydes certayn, Ebbes and flowes.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 425 The se wes ebbit [1489 Adv. ebbyt] sa.
a1500 (?a1400) Sir Torrent of Portyngale (1887) l. 223 The see wase Ebbyd.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 214 The Sea will ebb and flow . View more context for this quotation
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated ii. vi. 86 In some narrow seas..the sea seven times a day ebbs and flowes.
1721 J. Perry Acct. Stopping Daggenham Breach 121 Ships..may lie afloat, and not have the Water ebb'd away from them.
1835 J. Ross Narr. Second Voy. North-west Passage v. 59 The water might ebb another fathom.
1855 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (1860) ix. §429 The tides ebbed and flowed in it.
b. transferred. Of a ship: To sink with the tide. Of water: To sink lower. Of blood: To flow away.
ΚΠ
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iv. 1145 Ebben gan the well Of hir teares.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xvii. 421 Quhill that scho [sc. the ship] ebbit on the ground.
1663 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Names & Scantlings Inventions lvii The water standing at a level, if a Globe be cast in..it presently Ebbeth.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake iii. 107 [He] eyed The life-blood ebb in crimson tide.
2. figurative. To take a backward or downward course; to decay, decline; to fade or waste away. Also with away, down, off, out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > be in adversity [verb (intransitive)] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition
afalleOE
wanec1000
fallOE
ebba1420
to go backward?a1425
to go down?1440
decay1483
sink?a1513
delapsea1530
reel1529
decline1530
to go backwards1562
rue1576
droop1577
ruina1600
set1607
lapse1641
to lose ground1647
to go to pigs and whistles1794
to come (also go) down in the world1819
to peg out1852
to lose hold, one's balance1877
to go under1879
toboggan1887
slip1930
to turn down1936
a1420 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 4828 When that richesses ebben and abate.
1566 T. Drant in tr. Horace Medicinable Morall To Rdr. 3 Helpyng hym to ebbe, and helpyng hym to rise.
1633 T. James Strange Voy. 12 After full sea, our hopes ebde too.
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 8 Kingly power, thus ebbing out.
1713 E. Young Poem on Last Day ii. 43 My Passions ebb and flow At thy Command.
1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 180 As my Money declined, their Respect would ebb with it.
1833 H. Martineau Messrs. Vanderput & Snoek ix. 137 As his strength ebbed away.
1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust I. i. 34 My spirit's flood-tide ebbeth more and more.
3. transitive.
a. To hem in (fish) with stakes and nets so that they cannot go back to sea with the ebb-tide; see ebbing n.
b. To hem in (the tide) with sandbanks.
ΚΠ
1827 S. Hardman Battle of Waterloo 12 Driving that sand along towards the sea shore, To ebb the tide fast in.
c. (See quot. 1877.)
ΚΠ
1877 F. Ross et al. Gloss. Words Holderness (E.D.S.) Ebb, to gather fish-bait. So termed on account of its being done whilst the tide is ebbing.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1000
adj.c1425v.OE