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ebb.

The receding movement of the tide.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɛb/

  1. The receding movement of the tide.

    The boats will go out on the ebb.

  2. A gradual decline.

  3. A low state; a state of depression.

    especially

  4. A European bunting, the corn bunting (Emberiza calandra, syns. Emberiza miliaria, Milaria calandra).

Where this word comes from

From Middle English ebbe, from Old English ebba (“ebb, tide”), from Proto-West Germanic *abbjā, from Proto-Germanic *abjô, *abjǭ, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“off, away”), from Proto-Indo-European *apó. See also West Frisian ebbe, Dutch eb, German Ebbe, Danish ebbe, Old Norse efja (“countercurrent”), Old English af. More at of, off.

adj/ɛb/

  1. low, shallow

Where this word comes from

From Middle English ebbe, from Old English ebba (“ebb, tide”), from Proto-West Germanic *abbjā, from Proto-Germanic *abjô, *abjǭ, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“off, away”), from Proto-Indo-European *apó. See also West Frisian ebbe, Dutch eb, German Ebbe, Danish ebbe, Old Norse efja (“countercurrent”), Old English af. More at of, off.

verb/ɛb/

  1. to flow back or recede

    intransitive
    The tides ebbed at noon.

  2. to fall away or decline

    intransitive
    The dying man's strength ebbed away.

  3. to fish with stakes and nets that serve to prevent the fish from getting back into the sea with the ebb

    intransitive

  4. To cause to flow back.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English ebben, from Old English ebbian, from Proto-West Germanic *abbjōn (“to ebb”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.