tide.
THE SHORT MEANINGThe rise and fall of the sea.
MovementMeaning & usage
The daily fluctuation in the level of the sea caused by the gravitational influence of the moon and the sun.
The Bristol Channel has some of the world's largest tides.
The associated flow of water.
A lot of driftwood was brought in on the tide.
We can cross to the island when the tide is out, but it won't move out until around five o'clock.
Any similar gravitational effect on Earth or other body.
As well as sea tides, there are much smaller land tides.
By far the largest tides on Europa are those caused by the gravitational attraction of Jupiter.
A high-volume flow, literal or figurative; a current or flood.
The sewer burst, and a tide of sewage poured into nearby properties.
A tide of people crossed over the border.
The tendency or direction of causes, influences, or events; course; current.
The tide of public opinion has turned.
Time, notably anniversary, period or season linked to an ecclesiastical feast.
A time.
The doctor's no good this tide.
A point or period of time identified or described by a qualifier.
Eventide, noontide, morrowtide, nighttide, moontide, harvesttide, wintertide, summertide, springtide, autumntide etc.
The period of twelve hours.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *déh₂itis Proto-Germanic *tīdiz Proto-West Germanic *tīdi Old English tīd Middle English tyde English tide Inherited from Middle English tyde, from Old English tīd, from Proto-West Germanic *tīdi, from Proto-Germanic *tīdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *déh₂itis, from *deh₂y- + *-tis. Related to time. Cognate with Dutch tijd (“time”), German Zeit (“time”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish tid (“time”), Faroese and Icelandic tíð (“time”).
To cause to float with the tide; to drive or carry with the tide or stream.
To carry over or through a problem or difficulty.
To pour a tide or flood.
The ocean tided most impressively.
To work into or out of a river or harbor by drifting with the tide and anchoring when it becomes adverse.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *déh₂itis Proto-Germanic *tīdiz Proto-West Germanic *tīdi Old English tīd Middle English tyde English tide Inherited from Middle English tyde, from Old English tīd, from Proto-West Germanic *tīdi, from Proto-Germanic *tīdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *déh₂itis, from *deh₂y- + *-tis. Related to time. Cognate with Dutch tijd (“time”), German Zeit (“time”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish tid (“time”), Faroese and Icelandic tíð (“time”).
To happen, occur.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English tiden, tide, from Old English tīdan (“to happen”).
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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.
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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.