Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Ebb

Ebb (ĕb), n. (Zoöl.) The European bunting.

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.] 1. 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.

2. 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.

Ebb (ĕb), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ebbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Ebbing.] [AS. ebbian; akin to D. & G. ebben, Dan. ebbe. See 2d Ebb.] 1. To flow back; to return, as the water of a tide toward the ocean; — opposed to flow.

That Power who bids the ocean ebb and flow. Pope.

2. To return or fall back from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay; to recede.

The hours of life ebb fast. Blackmore.

Syn. — To recede; retire; withdraw; decay; decrease; wane; sink; lower.

Ebb, v. t. To cause to flow back. [Obs.] Ford.

Ebb, a. Receding; going out; falling; shallow; low.

The water there is otherwise very low and ebb. Holland.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.