king tide
king tide noun: an unusually high spring tide that occurs during full moon in the summer and winter months (when the earth is at perihelion and the earth, moon and sun are aligned).
Noun
king tide (plural king tides)
- An unusually high spring tide that occurs during full moon in the summer and winter months (when the earth is at perihelion and the earth, moon and sun are aligned).
- As an illustration of our vulnerability, in 1990 and again in 1991, the largest king tides of the year in the Marshall Islands almost inundated Majuro′s urban area.1994, Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea, International Organizations and the Law of the Sea: Documentary Yearbook, 1992, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, page 373
- The unprecedented 2006 king tide was alarming.2008, David Corlett, Stormy Weather: The Challenge of Climate Change and Displacement, UNSW Press, page 8
Forms of king tide
| plural | king tides |
|---|
Origin of king tide
From king (“something preeminent”) + tide, perhaps chosen for the rhyme with spring tide.
Questions about king tide
- What does king tide mean?
- King tide means an unusually high spring tide that occurs during full moon in the summer and winter months (when the earth is at perihelion and the earth, moon and sun are aligned).
- What part of speech is king tide?
- King tide is a noun.
- What is the plural of king tide?
- The plural of king tide is king tides.
Words near king tide in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: king tide (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “king tide.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/king_tide. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.