ebb

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The receding or outgoing tide, occurring between the time when the tide is highest and the time when the following tide is lowest.
• noun A period of decline or diminution.
• intransitive verb To fall back from the flood stage.
• intransitive verb To fall away or back; decline or recede. synonym: recede.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The reflux or falling of the tide; the return of tide-water toward the sea: opposed to flood or flow. See tide.
• noun A flowing backward or away; decline; decay; a gradual falling off or diminution: as, the ebb of prosperity; crime is on the ebb.
• noun A name of the common bunting, Emberiza miliaria. Montagu.
• Not deep; shallow.
• To flow back; return, as the water of a tide, toward the ocean; subside: opposed to flow: as, the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours. See tide.
• To return or recede; fall away; decline.
• Synonyms To recede, retire, decrease, sink, lower, wane, fall away.
• To cause to subside.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Zoöl.) The European bunting.
• noun The reflux or flowing back of the tide; the return of the tidal wave toward the sea; -- opposed to flood.
• noun The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; low state or condition; decline; decay.
• noun the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively.
• transitive verb obsolete To cause to flow back.
• intransitive verb To flow back; to return, as the water of a tide toward the ocean; -- opposed to flow.
• intransitive verb To return or fall back from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay; to recede.
• adjective Receding; going out; falling; shallow; low.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The receding movement of the tide.
• noun A gradual decline
• noun low state, state of depression
• noun The European bunting
• verb to flow back or recede
• verb to fall away or decline
• verb to fish with stakes and nets that serve to prevent the fish from getting back into the sea with the ebb
• adjective low, shallow

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the outward flow of the tide
• verb flow back or recede
• noun a gradual decline (in size or strength or power or number)
• verb fall away or decline
• verb hem in fish with stakes and nets so as to prevent them from going back into the sea with the ebb