ebb — OET · Shobdo

ebb

verb

1 the tide ebbed in the afternoon:

recede, go out, retreat, flow back, draw back, fall back, fall away, abate, subside;

rare retrocede.

▷antonyms come in.

2 his courage began to ebb:

diminish, dwindle, wane, fade away, melt away, peter out, decline, die away, die down, die out, flag, let up, lessen, decrease, weaken, dissolve, disappear, come to an end;

deteriorate, decay, degenerate;

archaic remit.

▷antonyms increase, intensify.

noun

1 the rocks were revealed by the ebb of the tide:

receding, going out, flowing back, retreat, retreating, drawing back, abating, subsiding;

rare retrocession.

2 they welcomed the ebb of the fighting:

abatement, subsiding, easing, waning, dwindling, petering out, dying away, dying down, dying out, fading away, de-escalation, decrease, decline, diminution, diminishing, lessening.

▷antonyms intensification.

ebb Oxford Dictionary of English