neaping

Verb

neap (third-person singular simple present neaps, present participle neaping, simple past and past participle neaped)

1. (transitive) To trap (a ship) in water too shallow to move, due to the smaller tidal range occurring in a period of neap tides.
   • At 8, being high water, hauld her bow close ashore, but Keept her stern afloat, because I was afraid of Neaping her, and yet it was necessary to lay the whole of her as near the ground as possible.1770, Captain James Cook, Journal During the First Voyage Round the World, entry for 22 June 1770
2. (intransitive) To ooze, to sink, to subside, to tail.
   • It is well known that the spring tides happen at the change and full of the moon, at which time she is conjunction with and opposition to the sun. As these retire from their conjunction, the tides neap till about three days after the first quadrature, when the tides begin again to be more and more...1831, Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, volume II page 860

See all 6 meanings of neap