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Wave vs Tide - What's the difference?

wave | tide |

In intransitive terms the difference between wave and tide

is that wave is to have an undulating or wavy form while tide is to pour a tide or flood.

In transitive terms the difference between wave and tide

is that wave is to signal (someone or something) with a waving movement while tide is to cause to float with the tide; to drive or carry with the tide or stream.

In intransitive obsolete terms the difference between wave and tide

is that wave is to fluctuate; to waver; to be in an unsettled state while tide is to happen, occur.

wave

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) waven, from (etyl) .

Verb

(wav)
  • (lb) To move back and forth repeatedly.
  • :
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Tom Fordyce, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland , passage=But the World Cup winning veteran's left boot was awry again, the attempt sliced horribly wide of the left upright, and the saltires were waving aloft again a moment later when a long pass in the England midfield was picked off to almost offer up a breakaway try.}}
  • (lb) To wave one’s hand in greeting or departure.
  • :
  • (lb) To have an undulating or wavy form.
  • (lb) To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form or surface to.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:horns whelked and waved like the enridged sea
  • (lb) To produce waves to the hair.
  • *
  • *:There was also hairdressing: hairdressing, too, really was hairdressing in those times — no running a comb through it and that was that. It was curled, frizzed, waved', put in curlers overnight, ' waved with hot tongs;.
  • To swing and miss at a pitch.
  • :
  • (lb) To cause to move back and forth repeatedly.
  • :
  • (lb) To signal (someone or something) with a waving movement.
  • To fluctuate; to waver; to be in an unsettled state.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:He waved indifferently 'twixt doing them neither good nor harm.
  • To move like a wave, or by floating; to waft.
  • :(Sir Thomas Browne)
  • To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Look, with what courteous action / It waves you to a more removed ground.
  • * (1809-1892)
  • *:She spoke, and bowing waved / Dismissal.
  • Derived terms
    * wave off * waver * wave the white flag

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) *.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A moving disturbance in the level of a body of water; an undulation.
  • The wave traveled from the center of the lake before breaking on the shore.
  • (physics) A moving disturbance in the energy level of a field.
  • Gravity waves , while predicted by theory for decades, have been notoriously difficult to detect.
  • A shape that alternatingly curves in opposite directions.
  • Her hair had a nice wave to it.
    sine wave
  • (figuratively) A sudden unusually large amount of something that is temporarily experienced.
  • A wave of shoppers stampeded through the door when the store opened for its Christmas discount special.
    A wave of retirees began moving to the coastal area.
    A wave of emotion overcame her when she thought about her son who was killed in battle.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=January 11 , author=Jonathan Stevenson , title=West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Foster had been left unsighted by Scott Dann's positioning at his post, but the goalkeeper was about to prove his worth to Birmingham by keeping them in the game with a series of stunning saves as West Ham produced waves' after ' wave of attack in their bid to find a crucial second goal.}}
  • A sideway movement of the hand(s).
  • With a wave of the hand.
  • A group activity in a crowd imitating a wave going through water, where people in successive parts of the crowd stand and stretch upward, then sit. Usually referred to as "the wave"
  • Derived terms
    * Elliott wave * make waves * Mexican wave * waveband * wave field synthesis * wave function * waveguide * wavelength * wavelet * wave mechanics * wave number * wave packet * wave-particle duality * wave ski * wave train * wave vector * wavy
    Synonyms
    * (an undulation) (l)

    Etymology 3

    See waive.

    tide

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) tide, from (etyl) . Related to time.

    Noun

    (en noun) (wikipedia tide)
  • The periodic change of the sea level, particularly when caused by the gravitational influence of the sun and the moon.
  • A stream, current or flood.
  • (rfdate) Let in the tide of knaves once more; my cook and I'll provide.'' — Shakespeare, ''Timon of Athens , III-iv
  • (chronology, obsolete, except in liturgy) Time, notably anniversary, period or season linked to an ecclesiastical feast.
  • (rfdate) And rest their weary limbs a tide
    (rfdate) Which, at the appointed tide , Each one did make his bride
    (rfdate) ''At the tide of Christ his birth —
  • (mining) The period of twelve hours.
  • Something which changes like the tides of the sea.
  • Tendency or direction of causes, influences, or events; course; current.
  • (rfdate) There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.'' — Shakespeare. ''Julius Caesar , IV-iii
  • (obsolete) Violent confluence —
  • Derived terms
    * astronomical tide * atmospheric tide * ebb tide * gravitational tide * high tide * hurricane tide * inferior tide * king tide * land tide * low tide * neap tide * oceanic tide * red tide * rip tide * spring tide * storm tide * terrestrial tide * thermal tide * tidal * tidal wave * tide day * tide crack * tide current * tide dial * tide-driven * tide duty * tide gate * tide gauge * tide harbour, tide harbor * tide hour * tide land * tidelands oil * tideless * tide lock * tide mark * tide mill * tide pole * tide pool * tide power * tide predictor * tide railroad * tide rip * tide rock * tide rode * tide runner * tidesman * tide stream * tide table * tide waiter, tidewaiter * tidewater, tide water * tide wave * tide way * tide wheel * tidy * work double tides * Ascensiontide * Christmastide * Eastertide * Passiontide * Rogationtide * Whitsuntide

    Verb

    (tid)
  • To cause to float with the tide; to drive or carry with the tide or stream.
  • * Feltham
  • ''They are tided down the stream.
  • To pour a tide or flood.
  • ''The ocean tided most impressively, even frightening
  • (nautical) To work into or out of a river or harbor by drifting with the tide and anchoring when it becomes adverse.
  • Derived terms
    * tide over

    See also

    * ebb * flow * neap * spring

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) tiden, tide, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (tid)
  • (obsolete) To happen, occur.
  • What should us tide of this new law? — Chaucer.
  • Synonyms
    * betide, befall