Definition

Phrasal Verb: * To provide enough of what is needed (especially money, help, or resources) to allow someone or something to manage or survive through a difficult or limited period of time. It implies bridging a gap between two points, such as from a time of shortage until a time of plenty or stability.

Usage

"Tide over" is a transitive phrasal verb, meaning it requires a direct object (the person or thing being helped). It is commonly used in the structure: to tide [someone/something] over. * It often refers to temporary financial assistance. * It can also refer to providing enough of a non-monetary resource (like food, energy, or support) to last through a shortfall.

Examples

• Financial/Resource Support:
  • This loan should tide the company over until the new contracts are signed.
  • Can you lend me twenty dollars to tide me over until payday?
  • She ate a small snack to tide herself over until dinner.
• General Support Through Difficulty:
  • Their encouragement tided me over during a very tough week at work.
  • We have enough supplies to tide us over the storm.

Advanced Usage

• Passive Voice: The construction can be used in the passive voice, though it is less common.
  • The team was tided over by the manager's decisive leadership during the crisis.
• Figurative Use: It can be used in a more figurative sense for abstract concepts.
  • A few positive reviews tided the author's confidence over during a period of writer's block.

Variants and Related Words

• Tide (noun, unrelated primary meaning): The regular rise and fall of the sea level caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun.
• Bridge the gap (idiom): To serve as a connection between two different things or times, similar in concept to "tide over."
• See [someone/something] through (phrasal verb): To support or provide for someone for the entire duration of a difficult time, often implying a longer or more involved period than "tide over."

Synonyms

• Sustain
• Keep [someone] going
• See [someone] through (a period)
• Hold [someone] over (informal, especially US English)

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Get by: To manage to live or survive, especially with limited resources. ("Tide over" is what someone else might do to help you ).
  • With careful budgeting, we can get by until my new job starts.
• Pull through: To survive a difficult situation or illness, often due to one's own or others' efforts.
  • With the doctor's help, she pulled through the infection.

Related Idioms

• Make ends meet: To have just enough money to pay for the things you need. ("Tiding over" is an action that helps someone for a while).
  • It's hard to make ends meet on a single income.
• Weather the storm: To survive a period of difficulty or trouble.
  • The small business managed to weather the storm of the economic downturn.

Verb

1. suffice for a period between two points
   • This money will keep us going for another year