Library / English Dictionary

TIDE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("tide" is a kind of...):

periodic event; recurrent event (an event that recurs at intervals)

Meronyms (parts of "tide"):

tidal current; tidal flow (the water current caused by the tides)

rip current; riptide (a strong surface current flowing outwards from a shore)

undercurrent; undertide (a current below the surface of a fluid)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tide"):

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)

Derivation:

tidal (of or relating to or caused by tides)

tide (be carried with the tide)

tide (cause to float with the tide)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something that may increase or decrease (like the tides of the sea)

Example:

a rising tide of popular interest

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("tide" is a kind of...):

fluctuation; variation (an instance of change; the rate or magnitude of change)

Derivation:

tide (rise or move forward)

Sense 3

Meaning:

There are usually two high and two low tides each day

Synonyms:

lunar time period; tide

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("tide" is a kind of...):

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be carried with the tide

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "tide" is one way to...):

be adrift; blow; drift; float (be in motion due to some air or water current)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

tide (the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to float with the tide

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "tide" is one way to...):

float (set afloat)

Cause:

tide (be carried with the tide)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Also:

tide over (suffice for a period between two points)

Derivation:

tide (the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Rise or move forward

Example:

surging waves

Synonyms:

surge; tide

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "tide" is one way to...):

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Antonym:

ebb (flow back or recede)

Derivation:

tide (something that may increase or decrease (like the tides of the sea))

Credits

 Context examples: 

The mysteries of storm, and rain, and tide were revealed, and the reason for the existence of trade-winds made him wonder whether he had written his article on the northeast trade too soon.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It was Neville St. Clair’s coat, and not Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yet at the idea that the fiend should live and be triumphant, my rage and vengeance returned, and like a mighty tide, overwhelmed every other feeling.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

So there was no damming up the tide of life that was rising within him—rising with every mouthful of meat he swallowed, with every breath he drew.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

In this region, as the tide rises and falls, the grounding line retreats and advances across a zone of about 2 to 3 miles (3 to 5 kilometers).

(Huge Cavity in Antarctic Glacier Signals Rapid Decay, NASA)

In coastal areas, very high tides called storm surges cause extensive damage.

(Hurricanes, Federal Emergency Management Agency)

After the first sighting of the geysers in 2005, scientists suspected repeated flexing of Enceladus by Saturn’s tides as the moon orbits the planet had something to do with their behavior.

(101 Geysers on Icy Saturn Moon, NASA)

The world’s oceans are already being overfished, and assailed by a rising tide of plastic waste, as well as other pollutants.

(Oceans running out of oxygen at unprecedented rate, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The gold-seeking tide was flooding northward into Alaska, and it was inevitable that Hans Nelson and his wife should he caught up by the stream and swept toward the Klondike.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He linked the past with the present, and the eternity behind him throbbed through him in a mighty rhythm to which he swayed as the tides and seasons swayed.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)