Definition of neap:
(n) :
the
tongue or
pole of a cart or other vehicle drawn by two animals
(adj) :
designating a
tide which occurs just after the first and third quarters of the
moon, when there is least difference between high tide and low tide
"1934: Little groups of sailors came swinging along and pushied their way noisily inside the gaudy joints. Sex everywhere: it was slopping over, a neap tide that swept the props from under the city. -- Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer"
(v) :
to trap a
ship (or ship and crew) in water too shallow to move from due to the smaller tidal range occurring in a period of
neap tides