Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: NATURE

Language: Old English
Origin: tid 'time'

tide

1 noun
     
tide1
1

the tide

HEODN the regular rising and falling of the level of the sea
the tide is in/out (=the sea is at a high or low level)
Is the tide going out or coming in?
We went for a walk and got cut off by the tide.
 ➔ high tide (1), low tide
2 [countable]HEODN a current of water caused by the tide:
Strong tides make swimming dangerous.
3 [C,usually singular] the way in which events or people's opinions are developing
tide of
With the tide of public opinion against him, the president may lose.
It was their first major victory. The tide had turned (=changed).
The tide of battle turned against the Mexican army.
swim with/against the tide (=support or oppose what most people think)
4 [C,usually singular] a large amount of something that is increasing and is difficult to control
tide of violence/crime etc
The crisis prompted a rising tide of protest.
She swallowed back a tide of emotion.
efforts to stem the tide of hysteria caused by the shootings (=prevent it from getting worse)
5 [singular] a large number of people or things moving along together
tide of
the tide of refugees flowing over the border
6

Christmastide/eveningtide/morningtide etc

old use a particular time of the year or day
Definition of tide from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic NATURE
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