tide

Everyday

1. The regular rise and fall of the sea's level, usually twice a day, caused mainly by the pull of the Moon's gravity. tree →
2. A strong feeling or trend that changes, as in a tide of opinion. tree →
3. "Tide someone over" means to help them for a short time until something better comes: a snack to tide you over until dinner. tree →

In the lessons

In science and geography, the Moon's gravity (and the Sun's) pulls the oceans, making high tide and low tide, roughly every 12 and a half hours. At low tide you can explore rock pools; at high tide the beach gets smaller. In safety, an incoming tide can cut you off on a sandbank or at the bottom of cliffs, so check the tide times before walking on the shore. Phrases: "high tide", "low tide", "the tide is coming in / going out", "tide times", "turn the tide", "go against the tide".

Examples

• At low tide we looked for crabs in the rock pools. tree →
• The tide is coming in, so let's move our towels. tree →
• Check the tide times before walking round the cliffs. tree →
• The Moon's pull causes the tides. tree →
• There are about two high tides every day. tree →
• At high tide the sand castle washed away. tree →
• Have an apple to tide you over until lunch. tree →
• The team's goal turned the tide of the match. tree →
• But the tide came in, just as it always did. tree →

Note

Countable: a tide, tides. Homophone: "tide" (sea) and "tied" (past of tie) sound the same. A "riptide" or rip current is a strong current flowing out to sea, not exactly a tide; if caught in one, swim parallel to the shore. In time problems: if high tide is at 9:00 and the next is about 12½ hours later, it is around 21:30.