Penny Arcade Forums› Help / Advice Forum
The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.

Struggling to find this word...

seconalseconal Registered User regular
edited December 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
I've come across it once, but have since forgotten it. It describes the water meeting the shoreline; that drift you get. Like the water washing up to shore then washing back.

I thought I found it just now - "eddy" - but that isn't it.
Any help would be appreciated. I've been trying to remember this off and on for months now.

seconal on

Posts

  • SmasherSmasher Starting to get dizzy Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    Ebb and flow?

    Smasher on
  • DmanDman Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    undertow or rip current?

    Dman on
  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    lapping?

    Sentry on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    wrote:
    When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
    'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
  • unilateralunilateral Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    the surf?

    unilateral on
  • Limp mooseLimp moose Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    latoral
    tide
    surf
    jeddy
    eddy
    neap tide
    spring tide
    erosion
    current
    heliocline


    there are a lot of water meets land words. Tide sounds like what you are describing though.

    Limp moose on
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    Longshore drift.

    TychoCelchuuu on
  • seconalseconal Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    Smasher wrote: »
    Ebb and flow?

    There we go. Ebb. Although I was picturing the surf. Simple word until it gets away.

    Thanks for the input everyone.


    Thread solved.

    seconal on
  • JebusUDJebusUD Adventure! Candy IslandRegistered User regular
    edited December 2008
    seconal wrote: »
    Smasher wrote: »
    Ebb and flow?

    There we go. Ebb. Although I was picturing the surf. Simple word until it gets away.

    Thanks for the input everyone.


    Thread solved.

    Ebb isn't what you said it means.

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ebb

    It is more of a tide comming back, or a flood. Not an individual wave returning.

    JebusUD on
    and I wonder about my neighbors even though I don't have them
    but they're listening to every word I say
  • b0bd0db0bd0d Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    I think you're a plant. For a thesaurus web site.
    They're everywhere!

    b0bd0d on
  • EskimoDaveEskimoDave Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml

    for future reference.

    EskimoDave on
    The best, and worst, blog about beer in BC.
  • seconalseconal Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    JebusUD wrote: »
    seconal wrote: »
    Smasher wrote: »
    Ebb and flow?

    There we go. Ebb. Although I was picturing the surf. Simple word until it gets away.

    Thanks for the input everyone.


    Thread solved.

    Ebb isn't what you said it means.

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ebb

    It is more of a tide comming back, or a flood. Not an individual wave returning.

    You know what? I'm thinking you're right, and now it's starting to bug me again.

    NB-Beautiful-SurfandClouds.jpg

    You see the area in between the ocean and the beach, the part that looks like webbing? I'm looking for a word that specifically describes that.

    ...and I'm thinking that I might have read it in The Canterbury Tales - a translated version - so the word might not be in use anymore.

    ...and I'm also thinking that I have to go into my school library today - on my day off - just to get the book to try and find it.

    If I find it, I'll post it.

    Also... thread unsolved. Dammit.

    seconal on
  • rfaliasrfalias Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    Damnit now you have me wondering wtf it is. Thanks.

    rfalias on
  • Seattle ThreadSeattle Thread Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    Uh... tide?

    Seattle Thread on
    kofz2amsvqm3.png
  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    break / breakers
    swash
    dash
    uprush

    edit:

    that webbing bit would be the backwash.

    Rook on
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    No one has used the word swell yet. It's not what you're referring to, but we might as well use every word we can.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
  • zakkielzakkiel Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    The thing you're talking about is probably a phantom word. Happens to me every so often too. It's the downside of having a language with an enormous vocabulary.

    zakkiel on
    Account not recoverable. So long.
  • OrogogusOrogogus San DiegoRegistered User regular
    edited December 2008
    Rook wrote: »
    break / breakers
    swash
    dash
    uprush

    edit:

    that webbing bit would be the backwash.

    I would think swash is what he's looking for, but if he's referring specifically to the white bubbly part and it came up in something literary, maybe he's thinking of froth or foam.

    Orogogus on
Sign In or Register to comment.
Penny Arcade Forums› Help / Advice Forum