Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The regularly occurring elevation of the ocean's surface water at high tide.
- noun An unusual, often destructive rise of water along the seashore, as from onshore storm winds or a combination of wind and high tide.
- noun A tsunami. Not in scientific use.
- noun An overwhelming manifestation; a flood.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun an unusually high wave from the sea, sometimes reaching far inland and causing great destruction, and usually caused by some event, such as an earthquake, far from the shore. In Japan, such a wave is called a
tsunami . - noun an unusually large quantity of items or events requiring attention and causing strain on the capacity to handle them.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A large and
sudden rise and fall in thetide . - noun proscribed A large, sudden, and disastrous wave of water caused by a
tremendous disturbance in the ocean; atsunami . (See Usage notes below.) - noun figuratively A sudden and powerful
surge . - noun archaic A
crest of ocean water; awave . - noun oceanography A crest of ocean water resulting from
tidal forces .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a wave resulting from the periodic flow of the tides that is caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon and sun
- noun an unusual (and often destructive) rise of water along the seashore caused by a storm or a combination of wind and high tide
- noun an overwhelming manifestation of some emotion or phenomenon
Etymologies
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Examples
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yarb commented on the word tidal wave
Has anyone else noticed that since Dec 26, 2004, tsunami has almost wholely usurped tidal wave, the latter now existing only in the metaphorical sense - a tidal wave of immigrants, a tidal wave of information, a tidal wave of money, praise, cheese?
April 3, 2008
jennarenn commented on the word tidal wave
Well, tsunamis have nothing to do with tides. The term was a misnomer from the start.
April 3, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word tidal wave
... a tidal wave of cheese?
April 3, 2008
sionnach commented on the word tidal wave
That sure sounds like an invitation to include some fine dairy poetry from James McIntyre, Canada's famed Chaucer of cheese:
Ode on the Mammoth Cheese
(Weight over seven thousand pounds).
We have seen thee, queen of cheese,
Lying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze,
Thy fair form no flies dare seize.
All gaily dressed soon you'll go
To the great Provincial show,
To be admired by many a beau
In the city of Toronto.
Cows numerous as a swarm of bees,
Or as the leaves upon the trees,
It did require to make thee please.
And stand unrivalled, queen of cheese.
May you not receive a scar as
We have heard that Mr. Harris
Intends to to send you off as far as
The great world's show at Paris.
Of the youth beware of these,
For some of them might rudely squeeze
And bite your cheek, then songs or glees
We could not sing, oh! queen of cheese.
We'rt thou suspended from balloon,
You'd cast a shade even at noon,
Folks would think it was the moon
About to fall and crush them soon.
April 3, 2008
reesetee commented on the word tidal wave
I'm glad someone else pointed that out, chained_bear. ;-)
April 3, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word tidal wave
Wow. *wipes tear* That's beautiful, sionnach. *is now hungry*
April 3, 2008
mollusque commented on the word tidal wave
There's more McIntyre poetry at cheese.
April 3, 2008
sionnach commented on the word tidal wave
oh dear. I'm losing it. Guilty of having inflicted the mammoth cheese ode not once, but twice, on Wordie members.
But, you know, it does have a certain irresistible quality to its sheer awfulness. I've always felt that McIntyre beats out McGonagall in the world's worst poetry sweepstakes. Though it's a close call.
April 3, 2008
yarb commented on the word tidal wave
Tidal wave of cheese.
n.b. I realise the term is a misnomer (although that doesn't invalidate it for me). I just thought it was interesting that after the big one in '04, everyone suddenly got all correct about it. As if the misnomer became somehow disrespectful.
April 3, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word tidal wave
Maybe I hang with anal-retentive idiots, but we were getting all correct about it well before 2004. *wonders about her friends*
April 3, 2008
bilby commented on the word tidal wave
And my Google search shows at number 1:
"Wordie
a tidal wave of cheese?" more... about 5 hours ago, on bugs, chained_bear said:. "*liking the idea of oroboros wielding pruning shears on Wordie*" more. ...
wordie.org/comments - 41k - Cached - Similar pages"
We're good. Very good.
April 4, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word tidal wave
Male's hairy nipples
Are like tidal waves of cheese...
April 4, 2008
reesetee commented on the word tidal wave
Of course, bilby! Didn't you know that we were planning to take over the universe? ;-)
And Prolagus, are you trying to drag us back into the Great Nipple Debate?
April 4, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word tidal wave
I wouldn't dare.
|. | .|
April 4, 2008
leaden commented on the word tidal wave
(Edit: It appears deinonychus beat me to the punch.)
February 4, 2012