neap

views updated May 11 2018

neap / nēp/ • n. (usu. neap tide) a tide just after the first or third quarters of the moon when there is the least difference between high and low water.• v. (be neaped) (of a boat) be kept aground or in harbor by a neap tide. ∎  [intr.] archaic (of a tide) tend toward or reach the highest point of a neap tide.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

neap

views updated Jun 08 2018

neap applied to tides at which high-water level is at its lowest. OE. nēp in nēpflōd, then not recorded till XV; of unkn. orig.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

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