How to use ebb in a sentence

26 example sentences · noun, adjective, verb

Ebb means the receding movement of the tide. Example: “The boats will go out on the ebb.”

Examples of ebb by meaning

nounThe receding movement of the tide.

The boats will go out on the ebb.
Men come from distant parts to admire the tides of Solway, which race in at flood and retreat at ebb with a greater speed than a horse can follow.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

nounA gradual decline.

Industrialism hasn’t been an abiding set of activities in any particular place but rather a dynamic cycle, of takeoff, peak, and ebb.2012, James Howard Kunstler, Too Much Magic, page 74

nounA low state; a state of depression.

A "lowest ebb" implies something singular and finite, but for many of us, born in the Depression and raised by parents distrustful of fortune, an "ebb" might easily have lasted for years.2002, Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, number 22 & 29 April
The 1987 book British Piers was written at a time when Britain's seaside resorts were perhaps at their lowest ebb, with a groundswell of support for rejuvenation and conservation just beginning.2020 July 29, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Railways that reach out over the waves”, in Rail, page 51

verbTo flow back or recede.

The tides ebbed at noon.

verbTo fall away or decline.

The dying man's strength ebbed away.

verbTo cause to flow back.

Parts of this town do not want a big influx of gay people and are trying to ebb it.1977 August 20, Robin Nicholson, quotee, “7 Arrested in Undercover Raid on P'town Bar”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 1

More sentences with ebb

The flood and ebb tides alternate with each other.From the entry alternate
Supply and demand ebb and flow in a complex interplay.From the entry demand
The ebbing tide had left ripples in the sand.From the entry ripple
Polls show the prime minister’s popularity is at a low ebb.2022 August 24, Tassanee Vejpongsa, Grant Peck, “Thai court suspends PM Prayuth pending ruling on term limit”, in The Washington Post…. From the entry at a low ebb
They entered his body and exited it, they faded up, they ebbed out.2010, China Miéville, chapter 39, in Kraken: An Anatomy, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 234. From the entry corona
Never before had she experienced the excitement that ebbed and flowed inside her.2009, David Silverman, Twinkle, page 107. From the entry front bottom
Reform here was a tenuous thing, dependent upon the ebb and flow of outsiders’ ambitions.1978, Angus W. McDonald, Jr., “Power”, in The Urban Origins of Rural Revolution: Elites and the Masses in Hunan Province, China…. From the entry Fujian
Each ebb leaves a hardcore of driftwood, stranded forever in fandom.1965 February 23, Chris Priest, “Postscripts”, in Hyphen, number 37, published 1987. From the entry mundania
Worms get the upper hand when the balance of health is on the ebb.1938, Report, Bombay (Province) Dept. of Agriculture, page 247. From the entry wormicide
They flushed hotly as they met by chance and their hands touched in the slack clasp of an ebbed friendship.1917 January, Leonora Orem Rocheleau, “The Great Equation”, in The Mother's Magazine, volume 12, number 1, page 41. From the entry ebbed
It is pretty clear that inner speech and anendophasia may represent the ebb and flow of thinking or information processing within the mind.2024 February 23, Quan-Hoang Vuong, Minh-Hoang Nguyen, “Inner speech vs. anendophasia: Where information, serendipity, and the mental…. From the entry anendophasia
There's something special about tidal estuaries, due to the abundance of wildlife and the ever-changing scenes as the water ebbs or rises.2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 65. From the entry estuary
There were up to fourteen yairs on the River Dee, some of which were fished on the flood tide, and others on the ebb tide.2007, David R. Collin, Kirkcudbright Shipping 1300-2005, Kirkcudbright History Society, →ISBN. From the entry yair
The odd thing about this great upsurge of interest is that it comes at a time when other spendworthy attractions are at a low ebb.1961, Light Metals & Metal Industry - Volume 24 - Page 31. From the entry spendworthy
The quality of his service game varied as the contest ebbed and flowed, but landing 54% of his first serves over the whole match was a telling statistic.2025 June 8, Jonathan Jurejko, “Alcaraz stuns Sinner in extraordinary French Open final”, in BBC. From the entry ebb and flow
The Stour is at its lowest ebb, and the sheen of the flats makes it difficult to tell where ground ends and water begins, out in the bay.2021, A. K. Blakemore, The Manningtree Witches, Granta Books, page 37. From the entry stour
My eyes flickered to the door behind him as sounds of partygoers being loud and ruckusy ebbed and flowed, cutting through this little world we'd created in the laundry room.2015, Penny Reid, Elements of Chemistry. From the entry partygoer
It was noted by them that kenned best that her cantrips were at their worst when the tides in the Sker Bay ebbed between the hours of twelve and one.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide. From the entry ken

Meaning of ebb

noun The receding movement of the tide.
noun A gradual decline.
noun A low state; a state of depression.

Full definition of ebb

Questions about ebb in a sentence

How do you use ebb in a sentence?: Ebb is used as a noun, adjective and verb. For example: “The boats will go out on the ebb.”
What is a short sentence with ebb?: “The tides ebbed at noon.”
What does ebb mean?: Ebb means the receding movement of the tide.

Adapted from Wiktionary: ebb (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use ebb in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/ebb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.