the.com/neap
The tide's quiet shrug — when sun and moon disagree, nobody gets the extremes.
means A neap tide is the unusually weak tide that occurs when the sun and moon's pulls partly cancel each other out, around the first and third quarter moon.
from From Old English 'nep,' seen in the phrase 'forðganges nep' meaning lacking the power to advance — its deeper root is unknown, but the sense of being slack or deficient is ancient and built right into the word.
- timing
- happens near first and last quarter moons
- cause
- sun and moon pull at right angles, canceling out
- opposite
- spring tide, when pulls team up instead
- range
- smallest gap between high and low water