Definition

1. Noun:
   • The incoming tide; the period between low tide and the following high tide when the water level is rising. This is the primary, literal meaning referring to the tidal cycle.
   • The peak or climax of something; the period of greatest success, intensity, or activity. This is a figurative meaning, describing the highest point in a process or series of events.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Literal - Tidal):

  • We can launch the boat on the flood tide. (We can launch the boat when the tide is coming in.)
  • The flood tide brought the seaweed closer to the shore. (The incoming tide brought the seaweed closer to the shore.)

• Noun (Figurative - Peak):

  • The company's expansion occurred during the flood tide of the economic boom. (The company's expansion occurred during the peak period of the economic boom.)
  • She published her best work at the flood tide of her creativity. (She published her best work at the climax of her creative powers.)

Advanced Usage

• "to take at the flood": To seize an opportunity at its most favorable moment, at its peak. This phrase originates from the Shakespearean reference.
  • The investor took the new market at the flood and made a fortune. (The investor seized the new market at its peak moment of opportunity.)

Variants and Related Words

• Flood (noun/verb): A great overflow of water; to inundate. While related, "flood" generally refers to an overflow, not specifically the tidal movement.
• High tide (noun): The state or time of the tide when it is at its highest level. This is the point the flood tide leads toward.
• Ebb tide (noun): The period when the tide is going out, falling from high tide to low tide; the opposite of flood tide.

Synonyms

• Incoming tide: The literal synonym for the tidal meaning.
• Climax: The peak or highest point (figurative).
• Culmination: The highest or final point of something (figurative).
• Zenith: The time at which something is most powerful or successful (figurative).

Related Phrases

• The tide is at the flood: A phrase indicating the tide is at its incoming peak, often used figuratively to mean a moment of great opportunity.
  • Act now; the tide is at the flood for this technology. (Act now; this is the peak moment of opportunity for this technology.)

Noun

1. the occurrence of incoming water (between a low tide and the following high tide)
   • a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune -Shakespeare
2. the highest point of anything conceived of as growing or developing or unfolding
   • the climax of the artist's career
   • in the flood tide of his success