ebb
Americannoun
-
ebbs
plural
verb (used without object)
-
ebbs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ebbed,
past participle, past
-
ebbing
present participle
verb
-
(of tide water) to flow back or recede Compare flow
-
to fall away or decline
noun
-
-
the flowing back of the tide from high to low water or the period in which this takes place
-
( as modifier ) Compare flood
the ebb tide
-
-
in a state or period of weakness, lack of vigour, or decline
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ebbsimple
-
ebbssimple
-
have ebbedperfect
-
has ebbedperfect
-
am ebbingprogressive
-
are ebbingprogressive
-
is ebbingprogressive
-
have been ebbingperfect progressive
-
has been ebbingperfect progressive
Past
-
ebbedsimple
-
had ebbedperfect
-
was ebbingprogressive
-
were ebbingprogressive
-
had been ebbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ebb
before 1000; (noun) Middle English eb ( be ), Old English ebba; cognate with Old Frisian ebba, Dutch eb ( be ), German Ebbe ebb, Old Norse efja place where water backs up; (v.) Middle English ebben, Old English ebbian, derivative of the noun; akin to off
Explanation
When something ebbs, it is declining, falling, or flowing away. The best time to look for sea creatures in tidal pools is when the tide is on the ebb — meaning it has receded from the shore. Ebb is often used in the phrase, "ebb and flow," referring to the cyclical changing of the tides from low to high and back to low again. This sense of cyclical change can also be applied to other things. If you want to make money investing, you have to weather the ebb and flow of the stock market.
Vocabulary lists containing ebb
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
List 5
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Seas The Day: Words That Shore Are Beachy
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Perhaps this existence is more about riding the ebb and flow than it is mapping the course.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
“Your vulnerabilities can ebb and flow. So you want to ask, ‘Where are my vulnerabilities?’” in a given situation.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
As if a healthy Ohtani would ever ebb so dramatically.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
LONDON—A few months ago, Nathan Cofnas was at a low ebb.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
It would be possible to take two hundred or more working the flood alone, Kabuo hoped, and perhaps a hundred more on the ebb if he was lucky—and luck, he knew, was what he needed.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Hospitals have adopted software tools to optimize staffing, with nurses more regularly covering shifts on floors where they aren’t usually assigned, to meet patient ebbs and flows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
“This means higher economic volatility and a more reactive monetary policy environment as inflation ebbs and flows,” they added.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
Who will pay the price when the SpaceX hype ebbs?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Of course, the popularity or otherwise of all parties ebbs and flows over time, and as recently as the 2017 general election Labour and the Conservatives managed 82.4% of the vote between them.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
He strokes my face as the pain ebbs.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Feelings of alienation have long ebbed and flowed in the restive province of Alberta.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
And even though levels of leverage in certain corners of the market have ebbed from their peak levels seen shortly before July’s artificial-intelligence swoon, risks remain.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 30, 2026
Once that goal was achieved, political enthusiasm and public interest ebbed, as did funding for further exploration.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Since then, the relationship has ebbed and flowed.
From Slate ● May 19, 2026
Then he massaged her with brandy and gunpowder, but it was all useless; Pancha’s life ebbed away in an interminable case of diarrhea that destroyed her body and left her with an insatiable thirst.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
But whatever faith people had in his ability to fix those problems, it is apparently ebbing away - and, the brutal truth is, it can be hard to find voters who like him.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
The most famous story-style intro — it literally begins with, “Here’s a story” — belongs to “The Brady Bunch,” which bridged the 1960s and ’70s, a decade that saw the ebbing of title-sequence stories.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2026
The weak market environment and high levels of geopolitical uncertainty that dogged performance last year meanwhile show no signs of ebbing, Lanxess said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
Any ebbing of drone strikes could be deceptive, with Iran amassing them for another swarming assault.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
The ocean of people stretched farther than I could see— waves of people ebbing and flowing, shoving the sawhorses and the policemen who were trying to keep them in place.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
