ebbs 1 of 2

noun

plural of ebb
as in declines
a change to a lower state or level a surprising ebb in the quality of workmanship in goods coming from that country

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

ebbs

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of ebb
1
as in deteriorates
to become worse or of less value the fortunes of the town slowly ebbed as factory after textile factory closed

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in subsides
to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually the howling winds ebbed as the hurricane moved into the interior

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ebbs
Noun
Years of going through the ebbs and flows of playoff games had the Knicks ready. — Zach Harper, New York Times, 16 June 2026 Construction ebbs and flows with cyclical interest rates. — Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 4 June 2026 Throughout its history the company has gone through the ebbs and flows of the jewelry sector, impacted to various extents by wars, macroeconomic volatility and geopolitical disruption. — Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 27 May 2026 Armas pointed to the ebbs and flows of development throughout the year. — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 20 May 2026 Durglo is no stranger to the ebbs and flows of federal dollars and has always pieced together funding from multiple sources, including state government, nonprofits, and federal agencies, to carry out climate work. — Ellis Juhlin, NPR, 18 May 2026 Zayn is the perfect example of anyone dealing with the ebbs and flows of a business. — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 18 May 2026 For all the ebbs and flows of her career, Larsson has remained uncompromising in her integrity. — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 11 May 2026 The ebbs and flows will send you through it. — Essence, 11 May 2026
Verb
The district’s cash on hand naturally ebbs and flows depending on when revenue arrives, but repeated Cook County property tax delays last year have deepened the problem. — Kate Perez, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2026 Participation ebbs and flows with the economy, dropping to 35 million in 2019. — Bart Jansen, USA Today, 19 June 2026 Life ebbs and flows in seasons. — Christina Perrier, InStyle, 17 June 2026 Student housing provides an obvious entry point, but occupancy ebbs and flows based on the academic calendar. — Matt Baker, New York Times, 12 May 2026 The good news is over 162 games production inevitably ebbs and flows, so before long the Red Sox will make some adjustments and the results should improve. — Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 19 Apr. 2026 Typically, that ebbs over the course of the season, as players play together more often. — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 24 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ebbs
  1. declines
  2. deteriorates
  3. subsides
  4. deteriorations
  5. descends
  6. decreases
  7. falls
  8. crumbles
Noun
  • Jobs in movies and music actually grew during the month, by 9,900, to 332,700, reversing some previous declines and an encouraging sign amid worries of a production slump.
    — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Prolonged drought conditions and exceptionally low snowpack have contributed to the significant declines in water levels at several Colorado River Basin reservoirs this year.
    — Matthew Glasser, ABC News, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of declines
Verb
  • When judgment deteriorates, every downstream outcome eventually reflects it.
    — Gerald J. Leonard, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Presidents fall, elections are held, and international interventions return — yet insecurity deepens and governance deteriorates.
    — José Singer, Miami Herald, 27 July 2026
Definition of deteriorates
Verb
  • The brutal nausea and vomiting of norovirus, for instance, subsides in one to three days; even the relentless diarrhea of cyclosporiasis can let up in a couple of days with an antibiotic.
    — Erica Sloan, Washington Post, 12 Aug. 2026
  • That said, living in the South means there’s still a ways to go before the heat subsides, and until then, breathable summer staples will continue to define my outfits.
    — Kate Boswell, Southern Living, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of subsides
Noun
  • Similar deteriorations took place in Tuscany and in Naples.
    — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Mar. 2026
Definition of deteriorations
Verb
  • Stuttering lines, on the left, jerking up and down, denote the rattle of guns; on the right, the lines are all but flat, as silence descends.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
  • As Pakistan descends into crisis, Zakir recognizes disturbing similarities between 1947 and 1971—crowds assembling, slogans spreading, cities burning, and familiar places becoming strange.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026
Definition of descends
Verb
  • An autonomous vertical sail uses suction technology to draw air over this shape, creating propulsive thrust that decreases the mechanical burden on the vessel’s primary engines.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Perhaps seawater’s viscosity — which decreases as temperature increases, making the water thinner —affects ciliary movements, Shapiro said.
    — Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of decreases
Noun
  • Careful engineering is necessary to ensure the safety of full-sized bipedal robots in close proximity to humans since kinetic energy in falls or collisions is a serious worry.
    — Chuck Brooks, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • For people 85 and up, however, malnutrition is the seventh-leading cause of death, behind falls and ahead of Parkinson’s disease.
    — Meg Wingerter, Denver Post, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of falls
Verb
  • That is the moment that everything crumbles for Rachel.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 14 May 2026
  • Loyalty, betrayal, illness and war all bear down on the group as the old order crumbles around them.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 25 Feb. 2026
Definition of crumbles

Browse Nearby Words

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ebbs
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Cite this Entry

“Ebbs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ebbs. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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