▪ I. tide, n.
(taɪd)
Forms: 1 t{iacu}d (tiid), t{yacu}d, 2–5 tid, 2–7 tyd, 3–7 tyde, (5 tyyde, tiid), 3– tide.
[OE. t{iacu}d = OS. tîd (MLG., LG. tît, Du. tijd), OHG. zît (zîd), MHG. z{iacu}t (Ger. zeit), ON. t{iacu}ð (Sw., Da. tid):—OTeut. *tî-d-i{supz}, referred by some to a root *tî- to extend (whence also time). See also note under branch II.]
I. Time.
† 1. A portion, extent, or space of time; an age, a season, a time, a while: = time n. 1–3. Obs. (or ? dial.)
| a 700 Beowulf 147 Wæs seo hwil micel, xii wintra tid torn ᵹeþolode. a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xiii. [xii.] (1890) 432 Þa ic sume tid fram ðe ᵹewat. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark ix. 21 Huu miceles vel longes tides. 971 Blickl. Hom. 125 Uncuþ bið æᵹhwylcum anum men his lifes tid. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark ix. 21 Hu lang tid is syððan him þis ᵹebyrede? c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 312 Þreo tida sind on ðysre worulde: an is seo ðe wæs butan æ;..seo ðridde is nu æfter Cristes to-cyme. [Cf. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 89.] a 1300 Cursor M. 391 (Cott.) Bath ware made sun and mon,..In takening o tides to stand, Dais and yeirs. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1974 And þou tary in þis towne, or any tide lenge. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 847, I mote..suffre storm after þe mery tyde. c 1450 Cov. Myst. v. (Shaks. Soc.) 50, I come aȝen withinne a tyde. a 1529 Skelton Poems agst. Garnesche iv. 162 Stop a tyd, and be welle ware. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 29 There they alight..and rest their weary limbs a tide. 1603 Philotus lxxvii, Prouyde Ane Pages claithis in the meine tyde. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 331 (E.D.D.), I wiss that tide had been a lang lang year. 1871 Waddell Ps. xxxi. 15 My tides are a' i' yer han'. |
† 2. spec. = hour 1.
Obs.| a 900 O.E. Chron. an. 879, Þy ilcan ᵹeare aþiestrode sio sunne ane tid dæᵹes. a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 30 June 110 Þonne se monoð byð ᵹeendod þe we nemnað se ærra lyða, þonne byð seo niht six tyda lang ond se dæᵹ eahtatyne tyda lang. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 388 An wæcce hæfd þreo tida; feower wæccan ᵹefyllað twelf tida. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 298 Ðæt ᵹer byð ᵹesett on þrim hund daᵹum & fif & syxtiᵹum daᵹum & syx tidum. a 1200 Moral Ode 137 (Lamb. MS.) Hefde he bon þer enne dei oðer twa bare tide nolde he for al middenerd þe þerdde þer abiden. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 408/223 Huy stoden and bi-heolden sein Iohan longue, þre tidene and more. a 1300 Cursor M. 14193 (Cott.) Ten tides [F. oures] has þe dai and tua. c 1430 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) App. BB. 3 Þe foure & twenti tydes [v.r. houres] in day & in þe nyȝt..he dyȝte folwel & riȝt Mid þreo grete kandlen To berne eite tides [v.r. houres]. |
3. a. A point in the duration of the day, month, or year, of human life, or of other natural (or, later, artificial) period; in reference to an action or repetition
= occasion:
= time n. 13, 14.
arch. or
poet.| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xvii. 120 Ðonne cymð his hlaford..on ða tiid ðæt he hiene ær nat. Ibid. xlvii. 356 A worpen mon bið a unnyt..& on ælce tid saweð wrohte. 971 Blickl. Hom. 21 Þæt leoht on nanre tide ne ablinneþ. c 1205 Lay. 14924 Hit ilomp an are tide heo nom hire to ræde. a 1300 Cursor M. 5733 (Cott.) Þe flok he fedd opon a tid, Bi a wildrin wod side. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 783 (Thisbe) Ffor to mete in on place at on tyde. a 1400 Pistill of Susan 149 Such toret and teone takeþ me þis tyde. a 1425 Cursor M. 5874 (Trin.) To stonde lete ȝe hem not bide As ȝe han done mony a tyde. a 1529 Skelton El. Rummyng 155 Such a lewde sorte To Elynour resorte From tyde to tyde. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. (1823) cxliv. v, My closett where I wont to hide In troublous tyde. a 1605 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 470 At that tyd [ane after midnight] was na time for trumpers to tarie. 1635 R. Johnson Hist. Tom a Lincolne (1828) 106 Which ship had beene seven yeares upon the sea..and before this tyde could never see land. 1805 Wordsw. Elegiac Verses on J. Wordsw. vi, But we will see it—joyful tide! Some day..The mountain will we cross. 1868 Morris Earthly Par., Man born to be King 1272 He, who, from ill death Saved me that tide. |
b. A suitable, favourable, or proper time or occasion; opportune, fit, or due time; season; opportunity:
= time n. 16.
arch. Cf. tid n.1| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxix. §2 Se ðe his ær tide ne tiolað, þonne bið his on tid untilad. c 897 ― Gregory's Past. C. xxxviii. 274 Hwilum sie spræce tiid, hwilum swiᵹᵹean. c 950 Lindisf. G. Matt. xxiv. 45 Þætte he sella him mett in tid. c 1060 Charter of Eadweard in Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 212 Alle þingen ða ðar upaspringeð, inne tyd and ut of tid. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 164 Bi Cipres side Isaac to aspie, If he toke any tide out of lond to flie. c 1430 Brut 439 Whanne tyde of passage come, thei toke the see, and passid ouyr. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. ix. 32 Then Paridell,..glad of so fitte tide Him to commend to her, thus spake. 1657 M. Lawrence Use & Pract. Faith 147 The foolish virgins lost their tide: the wise had much ado to gain it. 1887 Morris Odyssey ix. 131 For the land is nothing evil, but would bear all things in tide. |
† c. Appointed or fixed time:
= time n. 15.
Obs.| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xiv. [xix.] (1890) 210 Waciað ᵹe, forðon þe ᵹe ne weoton ne ðone dæᵹ ne ða tide. Ibid. iv. iii. 262 Þa cwom his tid, þæt he scolde of middanᵹearde to Drihtne feran. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John ii. 4, & cueð to him se hælend..ne ðaᵹet vel cuom tid min. a 1300 Cursor M. 21511 (Cott.) Þe Iuu him spedd til-ward his tide, Ouer term durst he noght bide. a 1436 Domesday Ipswich v. in Blk. Bk. Admiralty (Rolls) II. 31 Att tide and hour and tyme, that is to wetyn with ynne the xv. day..that he plete to his aduersarye. |
† 4. a. Any definite time in the course of the day; as
eventide,
morrow-tide, noon-tide,
q.v.;
spec. the point at which any hour is completed; as ‘at the tenth tide of the day’;
= hour 3.
Obs.| a 700 [see morn-tide]. a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xix. [xxvii.] (1890) 240 Ymb þa teoᵹðan tid dæᵹes. 1056–66 Inscr. on Dial Kirkdale Ch., Yorks., Þis is dæᵹes sol merca æt ilcum tide. c 1160 Hatton Gosp. John i. 39 Hyt wæs þa seo teoðe tyd. a 1300 Cursor M. 19810 (Edin.) Apon a dai at tide of none, An angel come and stode him bi. c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §15 Thanne wol the point of thi label sit[t]en in the bordure, vp-on the verrey tid of the day. 1493 Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 7 He hyred people to labour by all the tydes of the day. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 10 June 2/3, I go to you at gloaming-tide. |
b. A more or less definite point or season in the course of the year, of life, etc., usually defined by a prefixed word; as
April-tide,
June-tide;
New-Year's tide,
summer's tide,
winter's tide, etc.; also autumn-tide, spring-tide,
summer-tide,
winter-tide, etc.
q.v.:
= time n. 13 b.
arch. or
poet.| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxix. [xxviii.] (1890) 366 Þa ne com ðær næniᵹ grownes up ne wæstm, ne furðum brordes oð sumeres tid. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 444 Swa swa on lengctenlicere tide, rosena blostman and lilian hi ymtrymedon. c 1122 O.E. Chron. an. 1006, In þære midde wintres tide. 1541 Rutland MSS. (1905) IV. 312 For bryngyng a bore at Newe Yere tide, ij s. iiij d. 1556–1840 New-year's tide [see new-year 3 b]. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 307 When April-tide was melting into May. 1872 Tennyson Last Tourn. 241 High over all the yellowing Autumn⁓tide. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 3 July 2/3 The green woods under the Junetide skies Slope and gleam to the Solent strand. 1902 Ibid. 20 Mar. 9/1 The profits at Coronation-tide are expected to be heavy. |
† 5. Each of the seven canonical hours; also, the services recited at these;
= hour 5.
Obs.| c 1000 ælfric Colloq. in Wr.-Wülcker 90/6 Ic sincge ælce dæᵹ seofon tida. c 1000 ― Saints' Lives xxxiii. 344 Nu wille ic þæt þu..singe þær þine tida. 1028–60 Laws Northumbr. Priests §36 ᵹif preost on ᵹesetne timan tida ne ringe oððe tida ne singe, ᵹebete þæt. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 215 Þane hit time beð to done þe tiden. a 1225 Ancr. R. 22 Et þreo tiden siggeð Credo mit te Pater Noster, biuoren Uhtsong & efter Prime, & efter Cumpelie. Ibid. 44 Toward te preostes tiden herkneð se wel ȝe muwen. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7605 Vor him ne ssolde no day abide Þat he ne hurde masse & matines & euesong & ech tide. 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxxvii. 767 Atome þou maiȝt ful wel abyde Til he haue seid þe laste tyde. c 1400 [see hour 5]. 1557 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 386 The said Wardayn..shall dayly saye or singe..in the quere the tydes or houres, as tercio, sexto and nono. |
6. a. An anniversary or festival of the church: chiefly in the names of holy seasons or saints' days,
e.g. St. Andrew's tide,
† Saint Botulf's tide. See also Allhallowtide,
Christ-tide, Eastertide, Lammas-tide, Shrovetide,
Whitsuntide,
high-tide,
holy tide, etc.
| a 900 O.E. Chron. an. 759, Her Bregowine wæs to ercebisc̃ ᵹehadod to Sc̃e Michaeles tide. a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 18 May 84 On þone eahtateoᵹðan dæᵹ þæs monðes bið sancte Johannes tid. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 300 Fram easter tide þæt he eft cume. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 3 To dai is cumen ðe holie tid þat me clepeð aduent. c 1200 Ormin 8895 Att þe Passkemessedaȝȝ..þe boc hemm tahhte To frellsenn þær þat heȝhe tid. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10877 Sir edward ibore was A seint botulfes tid. c 1400 Brut cxxxix. 146 Þe sege endurede fro Michelmasse vnto Seynt Andrewus tyde. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 36 In a fair garden about S. Iames tyde. 1595 Shakes. John iii. i. 86 What hath this day deseru'd..That it in golden letters should be set Among the high tides in the Kalendar? 1611, 1615 Michaels-tide, Michael-tide [see Michael 2]. 1817–18 Cobbett Resid. U.S. (1822) 121 The country people, in England, go, to this day,..by the tides; and,..in some cases, by the moveable tides. My gardener..very reluctantly obeyed me..in sowing green Kale..because Whitsuntide was not come, and that, he said, was the proper season. 1839 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. IV. xxiii. 385 Feast-day and fast-day, holy tide and other tide. 1903 E. K. Chambers Mediæv. Stage I. i. 16 Holy week, and similar solemn tides. 1957 Oxf. Dict. Chr. Ch. 49/2 In the Anglican Communion, St. Andrewstide is widely observed by intercessions for foreign missions. 1975 Church Times 15 Aug. 2/3 Last week—St Laurence-tide—all the churches supported a flower festival in the chapel. 1976 Ibid. 15 Oct. 5/1 It has become the custom at St. Luke's-tide for the Church to pray for doctors. |
b. dial. A village ‘feast’ or fair (taking place on the festival of the patron saint of the parish).
| 1824 [see tide-time in 15 a]. 1828 Craven Gloss., Tide, a feast; as Bingley tide. 1863 Mrs. Toogood Yorks. Dial. (MS.), Boistall-tide will be next week. 1865 R. Hunt Pop. Rom. W. Eng. Ser. i. (1871) 62 The strongest beer, which was intended to have been kept for a tide. 1884 Let. to Editor, The Annual General Holiday at Bingley, Yorks., is still called ‘Bingley Tide’. |
II. Tide of the sea.
[This sense corresponds exactly to
MLG. getîde neut.,
tîde tie, neut. and
fem.,
LG. tīde,
MDu. ghetîde neut., early
mod.Du. tijde,
Du. tij neut., ‘tide of the sea’, a particular application of
MLG. getîde, ‘fixed time, time of prayer, proper time, opportunity, space of time’.
OE. had no form
corresp. to
getîde (using for ‘tide’ (of the sea)
flód or
flód and ebba); and
t{iacu}d or
tide in this sense is not known before 1340; it may have been then introduced from or used after the
MLG. word; but as
ME. tide had neither the difference of form nor of gender seen in
de tît and
dat tîde, actual formal evidence of the borrowing is wanting. There may have been a transference of sense in
Eng. itself, as well as in
LG. The following two early examples appear to mean ‘the
time of high water’, rather than the flood tide itself, or the phenomenon of the tides:
1340 Hampole
Pr. Consc. 1215
For þe se, aftir þe tydes certayn, Ebbes and flowes, and falles agayn. c 1386 Chaucer
Man of Law's T. 1036
Fro day to nyght it changeth as the tyde.]
7. a. The flowing or swelling of the sea, or its alternate rising and falling, twice in each lunar day, due to the attraction of the moon and, in a less degree, of the sun; the alternate inflow and outflow produced by this on a coast, the flood and ebb.
| c 1435 Torr. Portugal 1430, I Rede, we take down sayle & Rowe, While we haue this tyde. 1530 Palsgr. 281/1 Tyde of the see, flet, flote. 1563 Golding Cæsar iii. (1565) 72 There was no comming to theym on foote, by reason of the rysyng of the tydes. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. i. 46 Both winde and tide stayes for this Gentleman. 1593 ― Lucr. 1667 As through an Arch the violent roaring tide outruns the eye. 1599 ― Hen. V, ii. iii. 14 Iust betweene Twelue and One, eu'n at the turning o' th' Tyde. 1698 J. Keill Exam. Th. Earth (1734) 161 It is certain, that a Comet, when it passed by the Earth, would raise a very strong and prodigious Tide in the Seas that were then on the Surface. 1816 Playfair Nat. Phil. II. 326 The alternate rise and fall of the surface of the sea twice in the course of a lunar day, or of 24{suph} 50{supm} 48sec of mean solar time, is the phenomenon known by the name of the Tides. 1831 F. A. Kemble Let. in Rec. Girlhood II. viii. 237 The tide had not yet come in. |
b. In phrases (chiefly technical), as
cross tide, a tide running across the direction of another;
high tide, (
a)
= high water; (
b)
= spring tide;
low tide = low water;
leeward,
neap,
windward tide: see the defining words; also
flood-tide,
spring tide,
half-tide. Also in
fig. uses.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. x. 47 You say as well tide of ebbe, as tide of flood, or a windward Tide when the Tide runnes against the wind, as a Lee-warde Tide,..when the wind and the Tide goeth both one way. 1675 Temple Let. to Sir J. Williamson Wks. 1731 II. 336, I chose this Conveyance by the Captain of the Yacht, as both surer and speedier too, if not hindred by cross Tides in the River. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 120 There having been two or three high Tides before we had finished, we found [etc.]. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Cross-tide, the varying directions of the flow amongst shoals that are under water. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. v. (ed. 2) 172 In the English Channel..it is ebb tide in the harbours, while the eastern, or flood stream..is still running up, forming what is known to Pilots as ‘Tide and half Tide’. |
| fig. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Love 57 b, When..his high tyde of vpright fredome [shall] become to a falling water. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, High Tide, when the Pocket is full of Money. Ibid., Low Tide, when there's no Money in a Man's Pocket. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Relig. Wks. (Bohn) II. 98 Plenitudes of Divine Presence, by which high tides are caused in the human spirit. |
c. transf. A recurrent flow, alternate rise and fall or increase and decrease, other than of the sea.
acid tide, a temporary increase of acidity of the urine while fasting;
alkaline tide, a corresponding decrease of acidity during digestion.
| 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. xiii. 113 The return of the same windes, which otherwise they call the tide or winde of the sea. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 558 A wonderfull Well..which ordinarily ebbeth and floweth foure times in the space of one houre or there⁓about, keeping his just Tides. 1786–7 Bonnycastle Astron. viii. 138 The aerial tides must be much more considerable than those of the ocean. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 676 There are two tides or fluxes [of fever] within the twenty-four hours, the one occurs in the morning, the other in the evening. Ibid. IV. 304 A fresh tide of water will not unfrequently accumulate, and the head become as much distended as before. 1856 Bryant Earth 14 Swayed by the sweeping of the tides of air. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 293 This increased excretion is most marked during the alkaline tide. |
8. The space of time between two successive points of high water, or between low water and high water, in the sea; also, that portion of this time during which the height of the water (‘state of the tide’) allows of work being done, as in
tide's work: see
quot. 1867. So, in
Mining, a period of twelve hours (
Cassell's Encycl. Dict. 1888).
| 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 22 §1 A Calker laboring by the tyde, for as longe tyme as he may labour above the Water and beneth the Water, shall not excede for his Wages for every tyde iiij d. 1534 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VI. 234 Payit..to xv men to cast the space of xv tydis about the schip, viij d. the man for ilk tyde. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 281 [They] might..come by sea in two tides. 1758 J. Blake Plan Mar. Syst. 63 A ship going into dock for a tide or two to clean. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §175 We..landed, and got a tide's work of four hours. 1803 R. Pering in Naval Chron. XV. 154 (Royal Naval Yards) The extra [work] was divided into nights and tides:—a night consisted of five hours, and a tide of an hour and an half. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Tide's work, the amount of progress a ship has made during a favourable tide. Also, a period of necessary labour on a ship during the ebbing and slack water of a tide. |
9. fig. Applied to that which is like the tide of the sea in some way; as in ebbing or flowing, rising or falling, or ‘turning’ at a certain time.
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 61 Betre is to wayte upon the tyde Than rowe ayein the stremes stronge. c 1430 Hymns Virg. 69/368 Þe tyde [of life] is ebbid, & no more wole flowe. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 188 Oft beswakkit with ane ourhie tyd. 1593 [see turn v. 20]. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 218 There is a Tide in the affayres of men, Which taken at the Flood, leades on to Fortune. 1777 Priestley Matt. & Spir. (1782) I. Pref. 10 The tide of popular prejudice may rise still higher. 1781 C. Wesley Protestant Association in Poet. Wks. (1870) VIII. 464 His faithful troops from every side Are brought to turn the rapid tide. 1843 Lytton Last of Barons I. i. vii. 117 This speech turned the tide. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 54 From that moment the tide of battle turned. 1900 Daily News 7 Dec. 8/5 The dramatic tide has its ebb and flow like other tides. 1915 Mrs. Belloc Lowndes Let. 10 Mar. (1971) 57 There is an invasion scare but I don't believe in that... I do think the tide has now turned. 1935 E. Waugh Edmund Campion i. 24 That generation was inured to change; sooner or later the tide would turn in their favour again. 1941 P. Carr English are like That i. 18 He must have patience—patience..in the face of misrepresentation, patience to wait for the turn of the tide. 1982 Church Times 5 Feb. 8/3 After that [donation] who will be surprised to hear that the tide shows signs of turning at St. Christopher's? 1982 D. Fraser Alanbrooke iv. 79 In the autumn of 1918 the tide finally turned. |
10. spec. = flood-tide. Also
fig.| 1570 Levins Manip. 116/47 Ye Tyde, accessus maris. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. i. 90, I haue important businesse The tide whereof is now. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 633 The River at every tide riseth to a great heigth. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 249 By an exquisite observation of the Tides and Ebbings of the Sea they were wont to reckon their months and years. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. i, There is that at work in England which, taken at the tide, may lead on to fortune [cf. quot. 1601 in 9]. 1893 Stevenson Catriona iii. 27 It seemed the devil was in it, if I was to die in that tide of my fortunes. |
11. a. transf. A body of flowing water or other liquid; a stream, a current.
poet. and
rhet.| [15.. Sir A. Barton xxxix. in Surtees Misc. (1888) 75 Betwexte Trent tid and Tyne.] 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xii. 47 b, The fishes being carried by the violence of the floud, and tyde of the Euxine Sea into Propontide. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 563 Stands each attractive plant, and sucks and swells The juicy tide. 1738 Wesley Ps. cxxxvii. i, Fast by the Babylonish Tide (The Tide our Sorrows made o'erflow). 1757 Gray Bard 144 Deep in the roaring tide he plung'd. 1855 Mrs. Gatty Parab. fr. Nat. Ser. i. (1869) 39 She used to sing to the tide of the river as it swept along. 1872 Tennyson Last Tourn. 685 Feel this arm of mine—the tide within..Pulsing full man. |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 257 Thou art the Ruines of the Noblest man That euer liued in the Tide of Times. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 644 A lofty Gate..T' admit the Tydes of early Visitants. 1781 Cowper Retirement 453 The tide of life..May run in cities with a brisker force. 1830 Sadler Law Popul. I. 430 A tide of emigration has set in from the Old World to the New. |
12. The water of the sea; the sea (
esp. when the tide is flowing).
poet.| [1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 74 A brauer choyse of dauntlesse spirits..Did neuer flote vpon the swelling tide.] 1791 Cowper Odyss. xx. 74 Whelm me deep in Ocean's restless tide! 1821 Byron Two Foscari i. i, Bounding o'er yon blue tide. a 1847 Eliza Cook Rover's Song 1 I'm afloat, I'm afloat on the fierce rolling tide, The ocean's my home and my bark is my bride. |
III. Phrases.
† 13. a. tide and (or) time (also
time and tide: see
time n. 31): an alliterative reduplication, in which the two words were more or less synonyms, or
= time and (or) season.
Obs.| a 1225 St. Marher. 18 And te tide and te time þat tu iboren were, schal beon iblescet. c 1425 Cast. Persev. 2456 in Macro Plays 150 Þer is no dysese nor debate,..tyde nor tyme, erly nor late, but þat Couetyse is þe grounde. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 48, I leid my life in this land with mekle vnrufe, Baith tyde and tyme in all my trauale. 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. i. 26 b, At al tide and tymes whensoeuer they shall be commaunded. 1609 Mulb. Trees in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 75 If dancers keep not tide and time in their measures. |
† b. the tide abides for, tarrieth (for) no man, stays no man,
tide nor time tarrieth no man: now superseded by
time and tide wait for no man: see
time n. 31. Here
tide originally meant ‘time’, but from the 16th c. has usually meant the tide of the sea.
Cf. time and tide, in both senses.
Obs.| 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas iii. xi. (MS. Bodl. 263) 178/2 The tid abit nat for no maner man. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 6 The sure sea man seeth, the tide tarieth no man. a 1553 Udall Royster D. i. ii. (Arb.) 13 Farewell all my good friendes, the tyme away dothe waste, And the tide they say, tarieth for no man. 1579 [see tarry v. 5]. 1592 Greene Disput. 22 Tyde nor time tarrieth no man. a 1625 Fletcher Woman's Prize iv. v, The tide stays no man. |
14. (in) double tides, ? as if taking advantage of both the tides in one day;
esp. to work double tides, to work as hard as possible; so
to roar, spin, etc. double tides.
Cf. sense 8.
| 1788 F. Burney Diary July, I was most content to work double tides for the pleasure of his company. 1805 Naval Chron. XIII. 243 The..Caulkers worked extra double tides in gangs. 1832 Examiner 745/2 The artisans work double tides, that is, they perform two days' labour in one. 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos (1877) II. vii. 95 There is not a spinster in Brittany who will not spin double tides until my purchase-money be raised. 1889 Rider Haggard Allan's Wife, etc. 300 The wounded lioness was now roaring double tides. |
IV. Combinations.
15. In senses belonging to I, as
tide-beef,
dial. beef provided for a ‘tide’ or feast;
tide-serving, time-serving;
tide-time (see 6 b);
† tide-wise adv., at times, now and then.
| 1896 Yorksh. Weekly Post 29 Feb. (E.D.D.), He'd made up his mind they s'ould hae some reight *tide-beef. |
| 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xxv, The office shall just cost him as much time-serving and *tide-serving, as if [etc.]. |
| 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 201 At *tide-times he loiters in the chimney-corner at the Rose. 1898 T. Hardy Wessex Poems 203 To eyes that had seen her in tide-times of weal. |
| 1611 Florio, Interpollatamente, at certaine seasons, not continually, *tide-wise. |
16. In senses belonging to II.
a. (
a) simple
attrib. ‘of the tide, tidal’, as
tide-bar (
bar n.1 15),
tide-channel,
tide-edge,
tide-flow,
tide-flux,
tide-lead (
lead n.2 3 b),
tide-level,
tide-limit,
tide-line,
tide-mud,
tide-print,
tide-race (
race n.1 6),
tide-reach,
tide run,
tide rush,
tide-stream,
tide-turn,
tide-wash; (
b) ‘dependent on or regulated by the state of the tide, tidal’, as
tide-coach,
tide harbour; ‘filled, overflowed, or covered by the tide’, as
tide-hole,
tide-flat,
tide-land,
tide-marsh,
tide-pool,
tide-rock; in names of instruments for measuring the tides, or the like, as
tide-ball,
tide-dial,
tide-gauge,
tide-meter,
tide-predictor,
tide-staff; (
c) objective and
obj. genitive, as
tide-master,
tide-turner;
tide-generating,
tide-predicting,
tide-producing,
tide-taking adjs. and
ns.; (
d) instrumental, etc., as
tide-beat,
tide-beset,
tide-borne,
tide-bound,
tide-carved,
tide-caught,
tide-covered,
tide-driven,
tide-flooded,
tide-free,
tide-hoisted,
tide-like (also
adv.),
tide-locked,
tide-looped,
tide-ribbed,
tide-tongued,
tide-tossed,
tide-traced,
tide-trapped,
tide-washed,
tide-worn adjs.| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Tide-ball, a ball hoisted to denote when the depth of water permits vessels to enter a bar-harbour, or to take the bar outside. |
| 1898 J. Buchan in To Day 5 Nov. 7/2 The river the noo is no three feet deep a' ower, wi' sands and the shift o' the *tide-bar. |
| 1807 J. Barlow Columbiad vii. 272 Two British forts the growing siege outflank, Rake its wide works and awe the *tide-beat bank. |
| 1957 R. Campbell Coll. Poems II. 99 The swirl, the spray, the nimbus, and the wave Of *tide-borne lust and beauty. |
| 1910 Q. Rev. July 88 *Tide-bound at midnight in a small boat off..Deathhole Creek. |
| 1897 *Tide-carved [see pediment1 1 b]. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 4 Sept. 7/3 We clambered down to tide-carved caverns. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xiv. 142 The outside *tide-channel..was now full of squeezed ice. |
| 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xxiv, He took a place in the *tide-coach for Rochester. |
| 1756 J. Ferguson Astron. §409. 262 The *Tide Dial... A moving elliptical Plate, painted blue, to represent the rising of the Tides, under, and opposite to, the Moon. |
| 1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary xxiii. 221 A world left stark and dying above the *tide-edge of the fluid in which it lived. |
| 1859 C. Kingsley Glaucus (ed. 4) 146 The *tide-flats below are still unfinished, dry land in the process of creation. 1929 W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 211, I saw the last light supine and tranquil upon tideflats. |
| a 1644 Quarles Sol. Recant. Sol. viii. 82 As *tide-forsaken Rocks along the Main. |
| 1861 J. Brown Lett. (1907) 142 Glengariff is not *tide-free. |
| 1840 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 342/1 A description of a new *Tide Gauge. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea (Low) i. §14 The tide-gauges showed that several well-marked..waves had arrived off the coast. |
| 1863 Tyndall Heat iv. §122 (1870) 106 The *tide generating forces of the sun and moon. |
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §92 The false idea..of its being a *tide harbour, with a Bar at its mouth. |
| 1936 Dylan Thomas Twenty-Five Poems 41 The winder of the clockwise scene..threw on that *tide-hoisted screen Love's image. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xx. 260 Our *tide-hole freezes every night alongside. |
| Ibid. I. xxvi. 337 The *tide-leads..one year ago had afforded a precarious passage to the vessel. |
| 1865 Mrs. L. L. Clarke Seaweeds vi. 113 If the sea-marks change, and *tide-level varies. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 180 The Ordnance Survey has fixed its datum line, or standard from which all heights are measured, as the mean tide-level at Liverpool. |
| 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton Pref., With ever-returning *tide⁓like flood. |
| 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. iv. (1860) 40 We found the waves chafing among the rocks just where the *tide-line had rested 12 hours before. |
| 1939 Dylan Thomas Map of Love 4 Or like the *tide-looped breastknot reefed again. |
| Ibid., The silent tide Lapping the still canals, the dry *tide-master Ribbed between desert and water storm. |
| 1849 Dickens Dav. Copp. xlvi, This low girl whom he picked out of the *tide-mud. |
| 1853 Zoologist II. 4055 Almost every *tide-pool and hollow that retains the sea-water. |
| 1898 Academy 5 Nov. 194/1 Lord Kelvin's *tide-predicting machine. |
| 1891 Cent. Dict., *Tide-predictor. 1898 Academy 5 Nov. 194/1 No more marvellous instrument has ever been invented than the mechanical tide-predictor devised by Lord Kelvin. |
| 1939 Dylan Thomas Map of Love 9 Moonfall and sailing emperor, pale as their *tide-print. |
| 1883 Harper's Mag. Aug. 375/1 These numerous *tide-races often make the St. Lawrence a rough passage for small craft. |
| 1842 Faber Styrian Lake, etc. 43 Thus do idle poets stand Lonely on the *tide-ribbed sand. |
| 1844 W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scotl. xiii. (1855) 118 The *tide-runs are traceable upon the surface of the ocean. |
| 1857 R. Tomes Amer. in Japan v. 128 An officer and two men were also stationed on land, near where a *tide-staff had been planted, and were prepared to make observations. |
| 1795 Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1918) LIV. 101 To compensate for any supposed inconveniences that may attend a *tide stream. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. v. (ed. 2) 146 In describing tide-streams in the offing, caution must be observed in not confusing the ‘flood’ and ‘ebb’ streams. |
| 1934 Dylan Thomas New Verse xii. 11 Among the rabble Of *tide-tongued heads and bladders in the deep. |
| 1889 P. H. Emerson Eng. Idylls 42 *Tide-tossed trees..rise upon the face of the waters. |
| 1936 Dylan Thomas Twenty-Five Poems 44 Cartoon of slashes on the *tide-traced crater. |
| 1922 D. H. Lawrence Fantasia of Unconscious xv. 272 The moon is the *tide-turner. |
| 1882 J. Geikie in Nature XXVI. 44 Tracts now within *tide-wash. |
| 1832 Lyell Princ. Geol. II. 181 Almost every *tide-washed rock is carpeted with fuci and studded with corallines, actiniæ, and mollusca. |
| 1858 N. J. Gannon O'Donoghue ii. 28 The spray That crowns the *tide-worn rock. |
b. Special combinations:
tide-board, a board placed to prevent buildings being flooded at high tides;
tide-crack, in polar regions, an ice-crack near the shore caused by the rise and fall of the tide, which breaks the floating from the shore ice;
tide-current, the current caused in a tidal channel by the rise or fall of the tide (Ogilvie, 1882);
tide-day (see
quot.);
† tide-duty, import or export duty levied at a port;
tide-flap, a tidal valve opening outwardly at the mouth of a drain or small tidal stream;
tide-house, a (public) house adjacent to a tidal stream;
tide-land(s) N. Amer., land(s) covered by the tide;
tide-land spruce = Sitka spruce s.v. Sitka;
tide-lock, a double lock between tidal water and a canal or the like; a guard-lock;
tide-maker, that which causes the tides; also, a vessel which is compelled to take advantage of the tide;
tide-plate, a dial on which the state of the tide is indicated;
tide-register, a record of tide-movements; also, an apparatus that registers tide-movements;
tide-river, a tidal river;
tide-rode a.,
Naut. (for
tide-ridden), swung by the tide, as a ship at anchor; opposed to
wind-rode;
tide-runner, a fish which moves with the tide (
U.S.);
tide-time, the time at which the tide serves at any place;
tide-wave, the undulation which passes over the surface of the ocean, and causes high or low tide as its highest or lowest point reaches any place; also
fig.;
tide-weather (see
quot.);
tide-wheel, a water-wheel turned by the flowing and ebbing of the tide through a narrow channel;
tide-work, work which can be carried on only during hours when the tide is low, or that is paid for by the tide (
cf. 8); also, part of the mechanism of a tide-gauge. See also
tide-boat to
tideway.
| 1904 Westm. Gaz. 31 Dec. 7/2 Thousands of tons of water poured over the *tide boards and protecting walls of various warehouses, flooding the wharves and warehouses. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xiii. 131 He has risen by the side of an ice-berg..or through a *tide-crack. |
| 1833 Herschel Astron. xi. 337 The *tide-day (i.e. the interval between two successive arrivals at the same place of the same vertex of the tide-wave. |
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Compost, a *tide-duty, or revenue, arising from shipping. |
| 1843 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VI. 426/1 At the end of the main sewer was placed a cast-iron frame, upon which were hung three *tide-flaps with brass facings. |
| 1764 Low Life 100 The Landlords of *Tide-Houses, both up and down the River Thames, looking out sharp for Boats. |
| 1787 W. H. Siebert Loyalists in E. Florida, 1851–94 (1929) II. 239, 200 acres of rich *tide land well dam'd. 1891 Cent. Dict., Tide-land. 1895 Home Missionary (N.Y.) Sept. 292 Deep alluvial valleys of great fertility, tide-lands similar to those of Holland. 1975 N.Y. Times 25 Feb. 16/3 Gas resources did not become a controversial issue until the mid-nineteenthirties when oil companies began drilling wells in the tidelands. |
| 1884 C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 206 *Tide-Land Spruce... A large tree of great economic value. 1969 R. C. Hosie Native Trees Canada (ed. 7) 68 Sitka Spruce. Tideland Spruce... Produces a long, branch-free, cylindrical trunk. |
| 1808 B. H. Latrobe Let. 16 Mar. in Niles' Reg. (1818) XV. 54/2 It would be necessary to place the *tide lock as far out as possible. 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 148/2 The method by which the main or framing piles of the coffer-dam for the tide-lock..were fixed to the rock. 1875 [see guard-lock (guard n. 18)]. |
| 1903 Westm. Gaz. 6 Jan. 4/2 The moon is not only a *tide-maker in the marine sense. Its tangential ‘pull’ affects the earth's atmosphere. 1910 Chamb. Jrnl. Jan. 10/2 His hard overworked apprenticeship to the sea in coasting-schooners, in undermanned, under-engined ‘tide-makers’. |
| 1756 J. Ferguson Astron. §409. 263 The Elliptical or *Tide Plate, with the Moon fixt to it, is upon the Axis of the Wheel. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 496 An error of three-quarters of an hour in each lunation will place the tide⁓plate H, three hours wrong in the space of about four months. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xi. 117 Our *tide-register was on board the vessel. |
| 1739 C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Br. 80 So wide a *Tide-River as the Thames. |
| 1823 Crabb Technol Dict., *Tide-road (Mar.), the situation of a vessel which, being at anchor when the wind and tide are opposed to each other, has her head towards the current. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 197 When not tide rode, pick the lee anchor up. |
| 1877 Hallock Sportsman's Gaz. 244 These big fellows [weak fish] are designated as *tide-runners. |
| 1840 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. III. 182/1 *Tide-time for vessels of 12-feet draft, is denoted by 2 black balls being kept upon its flag-staff until 12-feet ceases upon the straight course. |
| 1833 Herschel Astron. xi. 339 The *tide⁓wave rushing up a narrow channel, is suddenly raised to an extraordinary height. 1861 T. R. Birks Bible & Mod. Th. Introd. 5 The tidewave of sceptical thought, which threatens..to bury the old landmarks of Christian faith. |
| 1740 Lynn in Phil. Trans. XLI. 689 When the Mercury has been a good while high,..there has fallen mistling Rain; especially about the New and Full Moon, with an Easterly Breeze, which the Borderers on the Coast of Lincolnshire and Norfolk call *Tide-weather, and may be occasioned by the Vapours arising from the Tides, which then cover a vast Wash of Sands in their Neighbourhood. |
| 1864 Webster, *Tide-wheel. 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 205 A circular basin,..aerated by a powerful fountain of sea water, forced up by a tide-wheel. |
| 1739 C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Br. 33 The Remainder being only common *Tide-work, has nothing worth relating. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 493 The wheel-work and tide-work of this clock are represented by fig. 498. 1852 J. Wiggins Embanking 122 Some allowance is to be made for tide-work and night-work, for bad weather on the coast, loss of materials. |
▪ II. tide, v.1 (
taɪd)
Forms: 1
t{iacu}dan, 3–5
tiden (3–4
tyd, 4
tid, 4–5
tyden, 4–7
tyde, 5
tydyn), 3–
tide;
pres. tense 3rd sing. (for
tideth) 3–4
tit,
tyt,
tyd, 4
tid, 5
tite,
tytte.
pa. tense 1–4
tidde, 4
tydde,
tyd (6
Sc.), 4–5
tid (5
tyde,
tide), 8–
tided.
pa. pple. 3–4
tid (4–5
tyd(d,
tidde, 5
tide, 6
tydde), 7–
tided.
[OE. t{iacu}dan (oftener ᵹet{iacu}dan: see i-tide) to happen, come about, f. t{iacu}d, tide n. Perfect tenses usually formed with be: cf. come v.] 1. intr. To happen, befall:
= betide v. 1. Often impersonal.
arch.| a 1131 O.E. Chron. an. 1123 Þa tidde hit on an Wodnes dei..þet se king rad in his der fald. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8649 He..nolde no leng abide Þat he nolde to is game, tide wat so bitide. 13.. Cursor M. 27412 (Cott.) For nakin case þat mai tide. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 127 Ȝe traistyt in lawte,..And wyst nocht quhat suld eftir tyd. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3655 Of theire termys they talke, how þay ware tydd. 14.. Sir Beues (MS. M) 663 Tyde what wyll be-tyde The tone of vs shall dede abyde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 493/2 Tydyn, idem quod happyn. c 1460 Towneley Myst. vi. 81 May tyde he wille oure giftis take. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. v. 98 How tyde that cais; declair me, I pray the. 1680 A. Haig in J. Russell Haigs xi. (1881) 309 Com what will com, tyde what may tyde, A Haig shall be Laird of Bemersyde. 1808 Scott Marm. iii. xxii, Soothly I swear, that, tide what tide, The demon shall a buffet bide. 1875 J. Grant One of the 600 ii, You..shall find that, tide what may, you are not forgotten. |
† b. const. with
dat.:
= betide v. 1 b.
Obs.| c 1000 Inst. Polity c. 10 in Thorpe Ags. Laws II. 316 Þæt heora ᵹewitan beon on æᵹhwylcne timan, weald hwæt heom tide. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 29 Witte wel hwat þu hauest, walte hwat þe tide. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 4977 Al his lond him tit for-go. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 5 (MS. Rawl.) A merueillous meteles me tydde to dreme. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame i. 255 Euery caas That hym was tyd vpon the see. c 1430 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) App. G. 213 Þi lyf þe tydeþ luse. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon xiii. 14 Some deadly act shall 'tide me ere I sleep. |
† 2. To fall as a lot or portion. (Const.
dat.)
| 955 in Birch Cart. Sax. III. 75 ᵹif þan biscop[e] hwæt tide. a 1272 Luue Ron 20 in O.E. Misc. 93 Her he haueþ seorewen ryue, Ne tyt him neuer Ro ne Rest. c 1300 St. Margarete 308 Bote þu do þis dede Ne tyt þe no part wiþ me. c 1305 St. Swithin 48 in E.E.P. (1862) 44 He so doþ his dede mid bobance, him ne tyt non oþer mede. c 1325 Poem Times Edw. II 236 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 334 He doth the wif sethe a chapoun and piece beof, Ne tit the gode man noht therof. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 255 This lange nyght ther tydes me na reste. |
† 3. To fare; to get on (well or ill).
Obs. rare—1.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1202 The Troiens were tyde, & tid þere þe bettur. |
¶ 4. trans. To meet with, experience (good or evil fortune).
Obs. This appears to be an erroneous use, originating with copyists who misunderstood the construction.
| a 1400 R. Brunne's Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5495 (Petyt MS.) For chances þat haf ben tyd [Lamb. MS. ffor swylke chaunces þat han bytid]. a 1400 Sir Beues 1844 Go, or þe tit [v.r. þou tytyst] an euel diner. c 1472 Chaucer's Compl. Mars 202 (MS. Arch. Seld. B. 24) In mony a cas thay tiden oft tyme sorowe [Fairfax and 2 other MSS. hem tydeth, ed. Jul. Notary hem tyden]. |
▪ III. tide, v.2 (
taɪd)
[f. tide n. II.] 1. trans. a. To carry, as the tide does. Chiefly
fig.| 1640 Quarles Enchirid. iii. 48 Man's Will is the Streame that Tydes them [our actions] up and downe. 1693 Dryden Persius' Sat. vi. (1697) 494 The Relicks of the Wrack..are tided back By the wild Waves, and rudely thrown ashore. 1824 Lady Granville Lett. June, A flow of animal spirits and good humour..tided off anything approaching to bore. 1884 Daily News 30 Oct. 7/3 So long will each flood continue to tide up the river varying proportions of sewage or other offensive matter. |
b. † To carry through (an undertaking) (
obs.); to enable (a person) to surmount (a difficulty, etc.) as on a swelling tide.
| 1626 B. Jonson Staple of N. iv. iv, I will tyde this affayre for you; giue it freight and passage. c 1860 in Holman-Hunt Pre-Raphaelitism (1905) II. 196 We should like to tide him over his low-water difficulties. 1869 Goulburn Purs. Holiness viii. 73 As an exuberant mounting flood shall tide us over the difficulties of our career. 1870 J. Bruce Life of Gideon vi. 109 We are to be tided over all our doubts and difficulties by what I would call a swelling flood of evidences or proofs. |
2. intr. (and with
it). To flow or surge, as the tide; to flow to and fro; sometimes
= ‘flow’ as opposed to ‘ebb’. Also
fig.| 1593–1654 [see tiding vbl. n. 1]. 1659 W. Brough Schism 555 When popular favour blows from us, and secular power tydes it against us and storms us. 1661 Webster & Rowley Thracian Wonder v, The seas, Whose equal valour neither ebbs nor tides. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. ii. xii, The muddy stream of domestic correspondence [i.e. between the servants] which ‘tided’ between Binford and Severnstoke. 1843 E. Jones Sens. & Event Poems 3 The sounding crowd That far beneath him tides. |
3. trans. To make to flow as a tide or stream.
| 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xix, Tiding it [a roll of cloth] out in a flowing manner over the counter. |
4. intr. To float or drift on the tide;
spec. Naut., to navigate a ship by taking advantage of favouring tides, and anchoring when the tide turns; usually with
adv. of direction. Often
to tide it.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. x. 47 To Tide ouer to a place, is to goe ouer with the Tide of ebbe or flood, and stop the contrary by anchoring till the next Tide. 1691 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 244 Our fleet..are now sailed out, and are now tiding it down with the wind directly against them. 1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess of Mar 3 Aug., We..set out in a calm, and he pretended there was nothing so easy as to tide it over [from Gravesend to Holland]. 1836 Marryat Olla Podr xxvi, We tided and warped how we could. 1893 H. M. Doughty Wherry in Wendish L. 71 We could in the morning tide it up further with the flood. 1896 A. Austin Eng. Darling iv. ii, Hither there tided The loose-limbed Briton. |
b. fig. To pass or be carried as on the tide; to drift.
| 1835 Marquis of Londonderry in Dk. Buckhm. Crt. Will. IV (1861) II. vii. 186 These questions would certainly tide on till next year. 1842 Manning Serm. (1848) I. 86 He will most surely tide onward..down the broad current of eternal death. |
c. quasi-trans. to tide one's way: to make one's way by using the tides; also
fig.| 1833 Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 332 Ministers are now endeavouring to tide their way through the session. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. (1858) 361 We tided our slow way north. |
5. intr. fig. to tide over: to get over or surmount (a difficulty, time of stress, etc.) as if by rising on the flowing tide, or by taking advantage of a favourable tide. With
indirect passive. Also
† to tide it out (
obs.).
| a 1659 Osborn Ess. ii. Wks. (1673) 558 Christianity..is prescribed by her Institutes to Tide it out, although the Stream of its Inconveniencies runs never so strong against the Nature of Man. 1821 Earl of Dudley Lett. 21 Apr., I wish we may be able to tide over this difficulty. 1865 Seeley Ecce Homo iv. (ed. 8) 36 The transgressor has but to tide over a few years. 1884 Manch. Exam. 12 May 4/7 We..believe that for the moment the difficulty is tided over. |
▪ IV. tide obs. pa. pple. of
tie v.;
obs. var. tite adv.