Meanings
comparative more tidely · superlative most tidely
- rareCleverly; smartly; bravely; quickly; speedily; soon.
So many to die, the year turns tidely, time takes all, [...]
2014, Rosalind J. Lee, Poetry for the Thoughtfull1 more example
You have lately (as appeareth by your Indices of sicknesse, and so many other novels) very tidely playde the bees part; and so continue as you love me, or your selfe; [...]
1592, Gabriel Harvey, A New Letter of Notable Contents - At each tide; each time the tide comes in; tidally.
The discovery of an Iron Age settlement at Balad Seet, an oasis on the northern side of the Hajar mountains which was tidely connected with Hamra on its southern side is of major surprise.
2005, Stefan Siebert, Analysis of Arid Agricultural Systems Using Quantitative Image Analysis, Modeling and Geographical Information Systems2 more examples
Their favourite stations are where there is a large extent of sandy shore, interspersed with scalps, or beds of muscles or other shell fish. These are generally uneven in their surface, or are interspersed with pools, which contain, breed, or tidely receive from the ocean, various molusca and marine animals, furnishing a favourite food to the birds.
1842, Sir William Jardine, The Natural History of the Birds of Great Britain and IrelandOn stones and sea-weeds between tide-marks. Sometimes parasitical on Zostera marina. It is very abundant on some parts of the Solway at low-water mark on a stony bottom, and becomes a great nuisance to the stake-nets, which require to be tidely cleared from the quantity that is caught by them.
1847, George Johnston, A history of the British Zoophytes
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Old Englishtīdlīċe“for a time; temporarily; conveniently; seasonably; in time; early; soon; quickly”
- Middle Englishtidely
- Englishtidely
From Middle English tidely, tydely, tidliche, from Old English tīdlīċe (“for a time; temporarily; conveniently; seasonably; in time; early; soon; quickly”), equivalent to tide + -ly. Cognate with Saterland Frisian tiedelk, Dutch tijdelijk, German Low German tiedelk, German zeitlich, Danish tidlig, Icelandic tíðlegur.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tidely. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tidely
“tidely.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tidely. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tidely,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tidely.
Source: tidely on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.