Forms: 1 ebbian, 2–5 ebben, 5–6 ebbe, 7– ebb. [OE. ebbian, f. EBB sb.; cf. OE. a-ebbian, be-ebbian to strand a ship; also OHG. fir-ebbita ‘deferbuerat,’ and MHG. (rare–1) eppen to ebb.]
1. intr. To flow back or recede, as the water of the sea or a tidal river: frequent in phrase, To ebb and flow. Also with away, down, off, out.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen. (Gr.), 1413. Lago ebbade sweart under sweʓle.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 161. Þe sæ floweð and ebbeð.
a. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 1216. The se, aftir the tydes certayn, Ebbes and flowes.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XVII. 425. The se wes ebbit sa.
c. 1435. Torr. Portugal, 223. The see wase ebbyd.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., IV. iii. 216. The sea will ebbe and flow.
1635. N. Carpenter, Geog. Del., II. vi. 86. In some narrow seas … the sea seauen times a day ebbs and flowes.
1721. Perry, Daggenh. Breach, 121. Ships … may lie afloat, and not have the Water ebb’d away from them.
1835. Sir J. Ross, N.-W. Passage, v. 59. The water might ebb another fathom.
1855. Maury, Phys. Geog. Sea, ix. (1860), § 429. The tides ebbed and flowed in it.
b. transf. Of a ship: To sink with the tide. Of water: To sink lower. Of blood: To flow away.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, IV. 1145. Ebben gan the well Of hir teares.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XVII. 421. Quhill that scho [the ship] ebbit on the ground.
1655. Marq. Worcester, Cent. Inv., lvii. The water standing at a level, if a Globe be cast in … it presently Ebbeth.
1810. Scott, Lady of L., III. viii. [He] eyed The life-blood ebb in crimson tide.
2. fig. To take a backward or downward course; to decay, decline; to fade or waste away. Also with away, down, off, out.
a. 1420. Occleve, De Reg. Princ., 4828. When that richesses ebben and abate.
1566. Drant, Horace’s Med. Morall, To Rdr. 3. Helpyng hym to ebbe, and helpyng hym to rise.
1633. T. James, Voy., 12. After full sea, our hopes ebde too.
1681. Dryden, Abs. & Achit., 226. Kingly power, thus ebbing out.
1713. Young, Last Day, II. 325. My passions ebb and flow At Thy command.
1720. De Foe, Capt. Singleton, x. (1840), 170. As my money declined, their respect would ebb with it.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Vanderput & S., ix. 137. As his strength ebbed away.
1875. B. Taylor, Faust, I. i. 29. My spirit’s flood-tide ebbeth more and more.
3. trans. a. To hem in (fish) with stakes and nets so that they cannot go back to sea with the ebb-tide; see EBBING vbl. sb. 2. b. To hem in (the tide) with sandbanks. c. (See quot. 1877.)
1827. Capt. Hardman, Waterloo, 12. Driving that sand along towards the sea shore, To ebb the tide fast in.
1877. Holderness Gloss. (E.D.S.), Ebb, to gather fish-bait. So termed on account of its being done whilst the tide is ebbing.
