A game at ticktack with words.
Milton.
Tick"tack`, adv. With a ticking noise, like that of a watch.
Tic`po*lon"ga (?), n. [Native name.] (Zoöl.) A very venomous viper
(Daboia Russellii), native of Ceylon and India; — called also cobra
monil.
Tid (?), a. [Cf. AS. tedre, tydere, weak, tender.] Tender; soft; nice;
— now only used in tidbit.
Tid"al (?), a. Of or pertaining to tides; caused by tides; having
tides; periodically rising and falling, or following and ebbing; as,
tidal waters.
The tidal wave of deeper souls Into our inmost being rolls, And lifts
us unawares Out of all meaner cares.
Longfellow.
Tidal air (Physiol.), the air which passes in and out of the lungs in
ordinary breathing. It varies from twenty to thirty cubic inches. —
Tidal basin, a dock that is filled at the rising of the tide. — Tidal
wave. (a) See Tide wave, under Tide. Cf. 4th Bore. (b) A vast, swift
wave caused by an earthquake or some extraordinary combination of
natural causes. It rises far above high-water mark and is often very
destructive upon low-lying coasts.
Tid"bit` (?), n. [Tid + bit.] A delicate or tender piece of anything
eatable; a delicious morsel. [Written also titbit.]
Tid"de (?), obs. imp. of Tide, v. i. Chaucer.
{ Tid"der (?), Tid"dle (?), } v. t. [Cf. AS. tyderian to grow tender.
See Tid.] To use with tenderness; to fondle. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
Tide (?), n. [AS. td time; akin to OS. & OFries. td, D. tijd, G. zeit,
OHG. zt, Icel. t&?;, Sw. & Dan. tid, and probably to Skr. aditi
unlimited, endless, where a- is a negative prefix. √58. Cf. Tidings,
Tidy, Till, prep., Time.] 1. Time; period; season. [Obsoles.] "This
lusty summer's tide." Chaucer.
And rest their weary limbs a tide.
Spenser.
Which, at the appointed tide, Each one did make his bride.
Spenser.
At the tide of Christ his birth.
Fuller.
2. The alternate rising and falling of the waters of the ocean, and of
bays, rivers, etc., connected therewith. The tide ebbs and flows twice
in each lunar day, or the space of a little more than twenty-four
hours. It is occasioned by the attraction of the sun and moon (the
influence of the latter being three times that of the former), acting
unequally on the waters in different parts of the earth, thus
disturbing their equilibrium. A high tide upon one side of the earth is
accompanied by a high tide upon the opposite side. Hence, when the sun
and moon are in conjunction or opposition, as at new moon and full
moon, their action is such as to produce a greater than the usual tide,
called the spring tide, as represented in the cut. When the moon is in
the first or third quarter, the sun's attraction in part counteracts
the effect of the moon's attraction, thus producing under the moon a
smaller tide than usual, called the neap tide.
The flow or rising of the water is called flood tide, and the reflux,
ebb tide.
3. A stream; current; flood; as, a tide of blood. "Let in the tide of
knaves once more; my cook and I'll provide." Shak.
4. Tendency or direction of causes, influences, or events; course;
current.
There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads
on to fortune.
Shak.