Definition of "ebb tide" [ebb• tide]

• The receding or outgoing tide; the period between high water and the succeeding low water. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""What made you try the South Channel in ebb tide and an inshore wind?""
• "Chilled, she tried to empty her mind of everything but the bittersweet present, synchronising her breathing with his, letting herself float on the ebb tide of passion into quiescence."