a wave resulting from the periodic flow of the tides that is caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon and sun
an unusual (and often destructive) rise of water along the seashore caused by a storm or a combination of wind and high tide
an overwhelming manifestation of some emotion or phenomenon; "a tidal wave of nausea"; "the flood of letters hit him with the force of a tidal wave"; "a tidal wave of crime"
to some (great or small) extent; "it was rather cold"; "the party was rather nice"; "the knife is rather dull"; "I rather regret that I cannot attend"; "He's rather good at playing the cello"; "he is kind of shy"
on the contrary; "rather than disappoint the children, he did two quick tricks before he left"; "he didn't call; rather (or instead), he wrote her a letter"; "used English terms instead of Latin ones"
the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state"
a politically organized body of people under a single government; "the state has elected a new president"; "African nations"; "students who had come to the nation's capitol"; "the country's largest manufacturer"; "an industrialized land"
the group of people comprising the government of a sovereign state; "the state has lowered its income tax"
the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation; "his state is in the deep south"
a state of depression or agitation; "he was in such a state you just couldn't reason with him"
express in words; "He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion"; "state your name"
the first element in a countable series; "the first of the month"
the first or highest in an ordering or series; "He wanted to be the first"
being the gear producing the lowest drive speed; "use first gear on steep hills"
ranking above all others; "was first in her class"; "the foremost figure among marine artists"; "the top graduate"
preceding all others in time or space or degree; "the first house on the right"; "the first day of spring"; "his first political race"; "her first baby"; "the first time"; "the first meetings of the new party"; "the first phase of his training"
highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections; "first soprano"; "the first violin section"; "played first horn"
indicating the beginning unit in a series
before anything else; "first we must consider the garter snake"
the initial time; "when Felix first saw a garter snake"
before another in time, space, or importance; "I was here first"; "let's do this job first"