spring·tide | \ ˈspriŋ-ˌtīd 
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\Definition of springtide
(Entry 1 of 2)
spring tide
noun (2)Definition of spring tide (Entry 2 of 2)
: a tide of greater-than-average range around the times of new moon and full moon
Examples of springtide in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun There's a special type of tide when the sun, moon and Earth align together bi-monthly around the times of the New Moon and Full Moon -- a spring tide, which means high tides are higher and low tides are lower no matter the season.
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Kristen Rogers, CNN, "The US proposed nuking the moon, and other surprising facts about Earth's celestial satellite," 22 Nov. 2019 The three bodies soon fall out of alignment with each other, and seven days after a spring tide the Moon and the Sun are at 90 degree angles from each other.
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David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "How Do Tides Work?," 25 Sep. 2019 Along the southern coast, safe harvesting with sufficiently high returns is only possible during low spring tides, when the sun and moon align, exerting their maximum gravitational force on the ebb and flow of the water.
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Curtis W. Marean, Scientific American, "When the Sea Saved Humanity," 1 Nov. 2012 A full week after spring tides, the sun and moon find themselves at right angles.
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David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "The Moon: An Explainer," 25 July 2019 An immense spring tide of red — Capitals jerseys, towels and signs — began to build before dawn, swamping a dozen blocks of Constitution Avenue NW in downtown Washington.
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Steve Hendrix, Washington Post, "Washington celebrates the Capitals first Stanley Cup with a victory parade and rally," 12 June 2018 Some of the city’s biggest flood events have happened at noon and midnight, when bimonthly spring tides happen to occur.
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Courtney Humphries, BostonGlobe.com, "Boston vs. the rising tide," 28 Apr. 2018 The mass stranding was the unfortunate coincidence of high wind speeds combined with low spring tides and extreme cold temperatures, Coleen Suckling, a marine biologist at Bangor University in Wales, writes for The Conversation.
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Julissa Treviño, Smithsonian, "Tens of Thousands of Sea Creatures Wash Up on UK Shores Following Freezing Weather," 8 Mar. 2018 The barge holds four weeks’ worth of seawater; every two weeks—during spring tides, which occur at the new and full moons—the Osbornes top up.
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Nick Paumgarten, Bon Appetit, "The History of Maldon Salt, the Stuff You Already Put on Everything," 31 Mar. 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'springtide.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for springtide
The first known use of springtide was in 1548
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