From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtidetide1 /taɪd/ ●●○ noun 1 → the tide2 [countable]HEODN a current of water caused by the tide Strong tides make swimming dangerous.3 [countable usually singular]DEVELOP the way in which events or people’s opinions are developingtide of With the tide of public opinion against him, the president may lose. It was their first major victory. The tide had turned (=changed). The tide of battle turned against the Mexican army.swim with/against the tide (=support or oppose what most people think)4 [countable usually singular]CROWD a large amount of something that is increasing and is difficult to controltide of violence/crime etc The crisis prompted a rising tide of protest. She swallowed back a tide of emotion. efforts to stem the tide of hysteria caused by the shootings (=prevent it from getting worse)5 [singular] a large number of people or things moving along togethertide of the tide of refugees flowing over the border6 → Christmastide/eveningtide/morningtide etcCOLLOCATIONSadjectivesthe tide is in (=the sea covers the shore)You can’t walk on the beach when the tide is in.the tide is outLet’s go for a walk along the beach while the tide is out.high tideAt high tide the island is completely cut off.low tideThe sands are exposed at low tide. the incoming tideThe box was carried upstream on the incoming tide.the rising tideThe rising tide had begun to fill up the channel.an ebb tide (=the flow of the sea away from the shore)We sailed out to sea on the ebb tide.a flood tide (=the flow of the sea towards the land)The wind drove the yacht inland on the flood tide.a spring tide (=a large rise and fall in the level of the sea, that happens when there is a new moon and when there is a full moon)It must be a spring tide.a neap tide (=a very small rise and fall in the level of the sea, that happens at the first and third quarters of the moon)Spring tides alternate with neap tides.verbsthe tide comes in (=the sea comes nearer)Once the tide comes in, the cove is cut off.the tide goes outThey sat on the beach watching the tide going out.the tide turns (=starts coming in or going out)Soon, the tide would turn and the waves would begin to creep inshore again.be cut off by the tide (=become trapped as the sea rises)Two anglers had to be rescued after getting cut off by the tide.
Examples from the Corpus
tide• Sometimes when the afternoon tide of heat reached its high mark, we would go over to the hotel.• They have repeatedly looked for a connection between crustal tides and earthquakes over the past few decades, but to no avail.• At high tides, sections of the line are submerged, whilst the sea scours away the track bed.• The young, the old, the frail are all sucked into its sweeping tide.• Driftwood on the beach was brought in by the tide.• It is unclear who will pay for the tide of refugees flowing into the country.• She couldn't resist the challenge of swimming back over the tide when the boys suggested it.• Even the great Chicago fire of 1871 could not stem the tide.• The tide turned when Tamerlane invaded their territory and in 1398 successfully raided Delhi, and sacked it without mercy.swim with/against the tide• Light given out by distant galaxies has to swim against the tide of expansion to get to us.• There s no point in you tryin to swim against the tide now, is there?stem ... tide of• Through this conservative normativist theory Dicey attempted to stem the tide of government growth in a collectivist direction.• Both the Senate and the administration seemed powerless to stem the tide of hysteria.• This illustrates the type of practical public health action that could be taken to stem the tide of obesity.• The government has been unable to stem the tide of violence in the south.tidetide2 verb → tide somebody over (something)TideTide trademark a type of detergent for washing clothes, sold especially in the USOrigin tide1 Old English tid “time” 