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Ebb vs Retire - What's the difference?

ebb | retire | Synonyms |

Ebb is a synonym of retire.


As verbs the difference between ebb and retire

is that ebb is to flow back or recede while retire is .

As a noun ebb

is the receding movement of the tide.

As an adjective ebb

is low, shallow.

ebb

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The receding movement of the tide.
    • The boats will go out on the ebb .
  • * (rfdate) Shelley
    • Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow / Claspest the limits of morality!
  • A gradual decline.
  • * (rfdate) Roscommon
    • Thus all the treasure of our flowing years, / Our ebb of life for ever takes away.
  • A low state; a state of depression.
  • * (rfdate) Dryden
    • Painting was then at its lowest ebb .
  • * 2002 , (Joyce Carol Oates), The New Yorker , 22 & 29 April
    • 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.
  • A European bunting, .

    • Derived terms

    * ebb and flow * ebb tide

    Antonyms

    * flood * flow

    Related terms

    * tide

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to flow back or recede
    • The tides ebbed at noon .
  • to fall away or decline
    • The dying man's strength ebbed away .
  • to fish with stakes and nets that serve to prevent the fish from getting back into the sea with the ebb
  • To cause to flow back.
    • (Ford)

    Synonyms

    ebb away, ebb down, ebb off, ebb out, reflux, wane

    Adjective

    (er)
  • low, shallow
    • The water there is otherwise very low and ebb . (Holland)
    ----

    retire

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (rare) The act of retiring, or the state of being retired; also, a place to which one retires.
  • (dated) A call sounded on a bugle, announcing to skirmishers that they are to retire, or fall back.
    • At the retire , the cavalry fell back.

    Verb

  • To withdraw; to take away; -- sometimes used reflexively.
  • * Sir Philip Sidney
    • He retired himself, his wife, and children into a forest.
  • * Sir J. Davies
    • As when the sun is present all the year, / And never doth retire his golden ray.
  • To withdraw from circulation, or from the market; to take up and pay; as, to retire bonds; to retire a note.
    • The central bank retired those notes five years ago.
  • To cause to retire; specifically, to designate as no longer qualified for active service; to place on the retired list; as, to retire a military or naval officer.
    • The board retired the old major.
  • (transitive, cricket, of a batsman) to voluntarily stop batting before being dismissed so that the next batsman can bat
    • Jones retired in favour of Smith.
  • (transitive, baseball, of a fielder), to make a defensive play which results in a runner or the batter being put out
    • Jones retired Smith 6-3.
  • To go back or return; to draw back or away; to keep aloof; to withdraw or retreat, as from observation; to go into privacy; as, to retire to his home; to retire from the world, or from notice.
    • I will retire to the study.''
  • To retreat from action or danger; to withdraw for safety or pleasure; as, to retire from battle.
    • The regiment retired from the fray after the Major was killed.
  • To withdraw from a public station, from working, or from business
    • Having made a large fortune, he retired .
    He wants to retire at 55.
  • To recede; to fall or bend back; as, the shore of the sea retires in bays and gulfs.
    • Past the point, the shore retires into a sequence of coves.
  • To go to bed; as, he usually retires early.
    • I will retire for the night.

    Derived terms

    * (l) * (l) * (l) * (cricket) (l)

    Related terms

    * (l)

    Anagrams

    * ----