The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ebb \Ebb\, n. [AS. ebba; akin to Fries. ebba, D. eb, ebbe, Dan. & G. ebbe, Sw. ebb, cf. Goth. ibuks backward; prob. akin to E. even.]
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The reflux or flowing back of the tide; the return of the tidal wave toward the sea; -- opposed to flood; as, the boats will go out on the ebb.
Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow Claspest the limits of morality!
--Shelley. -
The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; low state or condition; decline; decay. ``Our ebb of life.''
--Roscommon.Painting was then at its lowest ebb.
--Dryden.Ebb and flow, the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively.
This alternation between unhealthy activity and depression, this ebb and flow of the industrial.
--A. T. Hadley.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The flowing out and in of the tide. 2 (context figuratively English) A large flowing out and in. vb. To alternately ebb and flow.
Wikipedia
Ebb and flow (also called ebb and flood and flood drain) are two phases of the tide or any similar movement of water. The ebb is the outgoing phase, when the tide drains away from the shore; and the flow is the incoming phase when water rises again. The terms are also common in figurative use.
Ebb and Flow, is a public mural by American artist Douglas David, located on the exterior of the Consolidated Building in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. It was painted in 2006 by David using exterior house paint.
Usage examples of "ebb and flow".
Sensitive as cats to the constant ebb and flow of reputation on which power rested, all three knew they had to offer their followers a scheme.
The conspirators' knowledge of the movements of the courtiers seemed to be that of someone familiar with the ebb and flow of the court.
I tried to imagine what the station might be like if it were a place on Bajor, with all of the ebb and flow of the universe coming through it.
With an odd, undulating movement, the creature began to move toward the northeast, its arms and body lengthening and shortening as it went, like the ebb and flow of the tide.
All about the mighty sphere, stretching far into space, a wan glow seemed to ebb and flow, a kaleidoscope of swiftly changing color.
They made their own way across the room, with-out hurrying, and not directly-simply drifting grad-ually as the ebb and flow of the crowd permitted.
They made their own way across the room, with out hurrying, and not directlysimply drifting grad ually as the ebb and flow of the crowd permitted.
I speak of the long term, Orion, of the ebb and flow of human affairs that takes a thousand generations or more.
Wherever Harry went inside the tiny cottage or its garden, he could hear the constant ebb and flow of the sea, like the breathing of some great, slumbering creature.