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Added 9 October 2026

ebb

/ɛb/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about ebb at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A gradual decline (in size or strength or power or number).
The outward flow of the tide.

verb

Flow back or recede.
the tides ebbed at noon
Hem in fish with stakes and nets so as to prevent them from going back into the sea with the ebb.
Fall away or decline.
The patient's strength ebbed away

Origin

From Middle English ebbe, from Old English ebba (“ebb, tide”), from Proto-West Germanic *abbjā, from Proto-Germanic *abjô, *abjǭ, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“off, away”), from Proto-Indo-European *apó. See also West Frisian ebbe, Dutch eb, German Ebbe, Danish ebbe, Old Norse efja (“countercurrent”), Old English af. More at of, off.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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