And closing eaves of wearied eyes.
Tennyson.
Eaves board (Arch.), an arris fillet, or a thick board with a feather edge, nailed across the rafters at the eaves of a building, to raise the lower course of slates a little, or to receive the lowest course of tiles; -- called also eaves catch and eaves lath. -- Eaves channel, Eaves gutter, Eaves trough. Same as Gutter, 1. -- Eaves molding (Arch.), a molding immediately below the eaves, acting as a cornice or part of a cornice. -- Eaves swallow (Zoöl.). (a) The cliff swallow; -- so called from its habit of building retort-shaped nests of mud under the eaves of buildings. See Cliff swallow, under Cliff. (b) The European swallow.
Eaves"drop` (vz"drp`), v. i. [Eaves + drop.] To stand under the eaves, near a window or at the door, of a house, to listen and learn what is said within doors; hence, to listen secretly to what is said in private.
To eavesdrop in disguises.
Milton.
Eaves"drop`, n. The water which falls in drops from the eaves of a house.
Eaves"drop`per (?), n. One who stands under the eaves, or near the window or door of a house, to listen; hence, a secret listener.
Eaves"drop`ping (?), n. (Law) The habit of lurking about dwelling houses, and other places where persons meet for private intercourse, secretly listening to what is said, and then tattling it abroad. The offense is indictable at common law. Wharton.
Ebb (b), n. (Zoöl.) The European bunting.
Ebb, n. [AS. ebba; akin to Fries. ebba, D. eb, ebbe, Dan. & G. ebbe, Sw. ebb, cf. Goth. ibuks backward; prob. akin to E. even.] 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." Roscommon.
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.
Ebb (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ebbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ebbing.] [AS. ebbian; akin to D. & G. ebben, Dan. ebbe. See 2d Ebb.] 1. To flow back; to return, as the water of a tide toward the ocean; -- opposed to flow.
That Power who bids the ocean ebb and flow.
Pope.
2. To return or fall back from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay; to recede.
The hours of life ebb fast.
Blackmore.
Syn. -- To recede; retire; withdraw; decay; decrease; wane; sink; lower.
Ebb, v. t. To cause to flow back. [Obs.] Ford.
Ebb, a. Receding; going out; falling; shallow; low.
The water there is otherwise very low and ebb.
Holland.
Ebb" tide` (?). The reflux of tide water; the retiring tide; -- opposed to flood tide.
E"bi*o*nite (?), n. [Heb. ebyonm poor people.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect of heretics, in the first centuries of the church, whose doctrine was a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. They denied the divinity of Christ, regarding him as an inspired messenger, and rejected much of the New Testament.
E"bi*o*ni`tism (?), n. (Eccl. Hist.) The system or doctrine of the Ebionites.
Eb"la*nin (?), n. (Chem.) See Pyroxanthin.
Eb"lis (?), n. [Ar. iblis.] (Moham. Myth.) The prince of the evil spirits; Satan. [Written also Eblees.]
Eb"on (?), a. 1. Consisting of ebony.