DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 ebb and flow
 潮起潮落,起伏,漲落,盛衰

 Ebb, n.
 1. The reflux or flowing back of the tide; the return of the tidal wave toward the sea; -- opposed to flood; as, the boats will go out on the ebb.
 Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow
 Claspest the limits of morality!   --Shelley.
 2. The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; low state or condition; decline; decay. “Our ebb of life.”
    Painting was then at its lowest ebb.   --Dryden.
 Ebb and flow, the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively.
    This alternation between unhealthy activity and depression, this ebb and flow of the industrial.   --A. T. Hadley.

 Flow, n.
 1. A stream of water or other fluid; a current; as, a flow of water; a flow of blood.
 2. A continuous movement of something abundant; as, a flow of words.
 3. Any gentle, gradual movement or procedure of thought, diction, music, or the like, resembling the quiet, steady movement of a river; a stream.
    The feast of reason and the flow of soul.   --Pope.
 4. The tidal setting in of the water from the ocean to the shore. See Ebb and flow, under Ebb.
 5. A low-lying piece of watery land; -- called also flow moss and flow bog. [Scot.]
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