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.
Meanings
low, shallow
All the sea lying betweene, is verie ebbe, full of shallowes and shelves 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:
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.
Meanings
The receding movement of the tide.
The boats will go out on the ebb.
Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow / Claspest the limits of morality! 1824, Mary Shelley, Time:
Men come from distant parts to admire the tides of Solway, which race in at flood and retreat at ebb with a greater speed than a horse can follow. 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
A gradual decline.
Thus all the treasure of our flowing years, / Our ebb of life for ever takes away. 1684, Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon, Essay on Translated Verse:
This reflection thawed my congealing blood, and again the tide of life and love flowed impetuously onward, again to ebb as my busy thoughts changed. 1826, [Mary Shelley], The Last Man. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
Industrialism hasn’t been an abiding set of activities in any particular place but rather a dynamic cycle, of takeoff, peak, and ebb. 2012, James Howard Kunstler, Too Much Magic, page 74:
(especially, in the phrase 'at a low ebb') A low state; a state of depression.
Painting was then at its lowest ebb. 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC:
The 1987 book British Piers was written at a time when Britain's seaside resorts were perhaps at their lowest ebb, with a groundswell of support for rejuvenation and conservation just beginning. 2020 July 29, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Railways that reach out over the waves”, in Rail, page 51:
A "lowest ebb" implies something singular and finite, but for many of us, born in the Depression and raised by parents distrustful of fortune, an "ebb" might easily have lasted for years. 2002, Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, number 22 & 29 April:
A European bunting, the corn bunting (Emberiza calandra, syns. Emberiza miliaria, Milaria calandra).
fa جزر (receding movement of the tide) · nn fjøre (receding movement of the tide) · fr reflux (receding movement of the tide) · cy trai (receding movement of the tide) · ru отли́в (receding movement of the tide) · ka მიქცევა (receding movement of the tide) · ka ზღვის მიქცევა (receding movement of the tide) · ga aife (receding movement of the tide) · fi laskuvesi (receding movement of the tide) · sga aithbe (receding movement of the tide) · nl eb (receding movement of the tide) · pt vazante (receding movement of the tide) · fr jusant (receding movement of the tide) · it riflusso (receding movement of the tide) · nb fjøre (receding movement of the tide) · fi luode (receding movement of the tide) · nn fjære (receding movement of the tide) · sv ebb (receding movement of the tide) · cs odliv (receding movement of the tide) · gl devalo (receding movement of the tide) · ro reflux (receding movement of the tide) · uk відпли́в (receding movement of the tide) · bg отлив (receding movement of the tide) · unm wënhikahële (receding movement of the tide) · nb fjære (receding movement of the tide) · da ebbe (receding movement of the tide) · nb ebbe (receding movement of the tide) · ca reflux (receding movement of the tide) · hu apály (receding movement of the tide) · gl refluxo (receding movement of the tide) · cmn 退潮 (receding movement of the tide) · enm ebbe (receding movement of the tide) · ka მიქცევის დინება (receding movement of the tide) · es reflujo (receding movement of the tide) · pt refluxo (receding movement of the tide) · es marea (receding movement of the tide) · eo forfluo (receding movement of the tide) · cmn 落潮 (receding movement of the tide) · ga trá (receding movement of the tide) · gl vazante (receding movement of the tide) · de Ebbe (receding movement of the tide) · pl odpływ (receding movement of the tide)
From Middle English ebben, from Old English ebbian, from Proto-West Germanic *abbjōn (“to ebb”).
Meanings
(intransitive) to flow back or recede
The tides ebbed at noon.
(intransitive) to fall away or decline
The dying man's strength ebbed away.
(intransitive) to fish with stakes and nets that serve to prevent the fish from getting back into the sea with the ebb
(transitive) To cause to flow back.
Parts of this town do not want a big influx of gay people and are trying to ebb it. 1977 August 20, Robin Nicholson, quotee, “7 Arrested in Undercover Raid on P'town Bar”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 1:
mi timu (to fall away or decline) · el άμπωτη (to fall away or decline) · gl vazar (to fall away or decline) · hu gyengül (to fall away or decline) · ka დაქვეითება (to fall away or decline) · de abebben (to fall away or decline) · mi heke (to fall away or decline) · gl devalar (to fall away or decline) · hu fogyatkozik (to fall away or decline) · ca retirar-se (to fall away or decline) · ka რეგრესი (to fall away or decline) · ru ослабевать (to fall away or decline) · ga tráigh (to fall away or decline) · bg спадам (to fall away or decline) · ca baixar (to fall away or decline) · de ebben (to fall away or decline) · pt vazar (to fall away or decline) · yue 減退 /减退 (to fall away or decline) · hu fogy (to fall away or decline) · nl wegebben (to fall away or decline) · mi tiremi (to fall away or decline) · pt refluir (to fall away or decline) · fr décliner (to fall away or decline) · hu hanyatlik (to fall away or decline) · ka დაკნინება (to fall away or decline) · sv ebba (to fall away or decline) · mi tāwhati (to fall away or decline) · enm ebben (to fall away or decline) · fr refluer (to fall away or decline) · mi keketu (to fall away or decline) · hu apad (to fall away or decline) · ca refluir (la marea) (to fall away or decline)