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Glite Dictionary
neap tide

neap tide

6.3
A tide when the difference between high and low water is very small twice a month
  • noun
  • /nip taɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : marea muerta
  • The fisherman waited for a neap tide to safely launch his boat without risking high waves.

Examples

  • During a neap tide, the water levels rise and fall very little compared to other times of the month.

  • Neap tide, low tide, comes twice a month, and the moon was in the third quarter that night.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • A neap tide occurs when the difference between high and low water is at its smallest.

Synonyms

neap
vsneap tide
  • Specialized
9.9

A tide with the smallest difference between high and low water when the moon looks half lit

is the two word phrase form of the same meaning

Antonyms

springtide
  • Literature
9.3

A very high and very low tide that happens at new and full moons

How Strong

springtide
  • Literature
9.3
neap tide
  • Specialized
6.3

Surface Forms

neap tide singular
neap tides plural

Morphology

neap + tide

The meaning is directly compositional: 'neap' specifies the low-amplitude quality and 'tide' names the periodic sea-level change, so combining them yields 'a tide with minimal high–low difference.' This is a straightforward modifier + noun pattern (common cross-linguistically), so a learner who knows both constituent meanings can infer the MWE.

Etymology

Neap tide comes from an old word meaning 'small' or 'weak', so neap describes a weaker tide at the moon's first and third quarter. At those times the Sun and Moon pull the sea from different directions and the high and low waters stay close together, so neap tide means the smallest difference between high and low water.