tide

/taɪd/

/taɪd/

Other forms: tides; tided; tiding

The tide is the daily rise and fall of the sea level. You can count on the regular changing patterns of the tide, unless of course a tsunami is headed your way.

In a figurative sense, tide can mean a rising swell of support or unified feeling about a certain opinion or topic. So you may surf at high tide but also enjoy the rising tide of enthusiasm about surfing. If there is a wave of anything — immigration, inflation, terror — it can be referred to as a tide. No surfboards can navigate those tricky waves.

Definitions of tide

1. noun

   the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon
   types:

   high tide, high water, highwater

   the tide when the water is highest

   low tide, low water

   the lowest (farthest) ebb of the tide

   ebbtide

   the tide while water is flowing out

   flood, flood tide, rising tide

   the occurrence of incoming water (between a low tide and the following high tide)

   lee tide, leeward tide

   a tide that runs in the same direction as the wind is blowing

   slack tide, slack water

   the occurrence of relatively still water at the turn of the (low) tide

   direct tide

   the occurrence of high tide on one side of the earth coinciding with high tide on the opposite side

   neap, neap tide

   a less than average tide occurring at the first and third quarters of the moon

   springtide

   a greater than average tide occurring during the new and full moons

   type of:

   periodic event, recurrent event

   an event that recurs at intervals
2. noun

   lunar time period (there are usually two high and two low tides each day)
   synonyms: lunar time period

   type of:

   period, period of time, time period

   an amount of time
3. noun

   something that may increase or decrease (like the tides of the sea)
   “a rising tide of popular interest”

   type of:

   fluctuation, variation

   an instance of change; the rate or magnitude of change
4. verb

   rise or move forward
   synonyms: surge

   antonyms:

   ebb

   flow back or recede

   type of:

   course, feed, flow, run

   move along, of liquids
5. verb

   cause to float with the tide
   type of:

   float

   set afloat
6. verb

   be carried with the tide
   type of:

   be adrift, blow, drift, float

   be in motion due to some air or water current