surgen.
/səːdʒ/, U.S. /sərdʒ/ a. A fountain, stream. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > fountain > [noun]
fontOE
surge1490
eye1535
watering stone1788
1490 W. Caxton tr. Eneydos iv. 18 The whiche trees, soo cutte..yssued oute..a sourge [Fr. vne sourgon] of blacke bloode droppynge doun to the erthe.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Eneydos vi. 26 [Her eyes] seemed two grete sourges [Fr. sourions] wellynge vp grete affluence of teerys.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Scatebræ, the bollynge or rysynge vppe of water out of a spryng or sourges of water.
1567 G. Turberville Epitaphes, Epigrams f. 36v Thus with a surge of teares bedewde (O bed) I thee forsake.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > system > [noun] > head or source
headeOE
wellspringOE
springOE
uptaking1241
head wella1325
wellheadc1330
sourcec1386
headspringa1398
headstreama1398
risinga1398
surge1523
springhead?a1560
head fountain1563
water head1567
fountainhead1585
headwater1612
fill1622
water source1651
urn1726
vomica1838
sponge-swamp1901
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. i. 1 All great ryuers are..assemblede of diuers surges [Fr. surgeons] and sprynges of water.
1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. i. i. f. 48/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I Charwell..issueth so fast at the verye surge, that it groweth into a pretye streame, in maner out of hand.
1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. xxi. 211/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I Yet is the surge of that water alwaies seuen foot from the salt sea.
1588 W. Allen Admon. to Nobility & People 4 The nexte immediate surge of our sores.
2.
a. A high rolling swell of water, esp. on the sea; a large, heavy, or violent wave; a billow.In this use and in b, chiefly poetic or rhetorical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > types of waves > [noun] > swelling or surging wave
swelling1387
jaw1513
surge1530
roll1535
brimmer1652
roller1829
beachcomber1859
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 278/2 Surge of the see, uague.
1539 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) ii. xiv. 31 b The beste fyshe..is tossed and lyfte vp with wyndes and sourges.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 244v The sea was..vnquieted with surgies and monsters.
1558 Bp. T. Watson Holsome Doctr. Seuen Sacramentes xiv. f. lxxxiii To haue a mans shyppe drowned at once wyth one greate sourge and waue of the sea.
1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated ii. ii. 20 The Sea euery where plaine and like it selfe, except the rising of the waues and surges.
1673 J. Dryden Marriage a-la-Mode ii. i. 25 As open to the gusts of passion, As the bare Shore to every beating Surge.
1728 J. Thomson Winter (ed. 5) 18 Rowling gather'd Seas, Surge over surge, burst in a general Roar.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxv. 278 All this time, the sea was rolling in immense surges.
1861 Ld. Tennyson Sailor Boy 9 The sands and yeasty surges mix In caves about the dreary bay.
1885 Athenæum 23 May 669/3 A noble sea view..where grand surges move in ranks..till they beat furiously on the shore.
b. Such waves or billows collectively; the rising or driving swell of the sea.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > state of sea > [noun] > swell
surge1567
sea-gate1583
swella1616
running1622
groundswell1818
backwater1838
after-roll1858
wallow1868
1567 G. Turberville To Rayling Rout in Epit., Epigr. 7 Such as earst in cutting of the Surge..Bode bitter blast and scornefull Neptunes scurge.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia i. 2 The very surge of the Sea sometimes overflowed them.
1702 London Gaz. No. 3845/2 Some Boats were overset by the Surge of the Sea, it blowing them very fresh.
1749 T. Smollett Regicide iv. iii. 53 Thy specious Words Shall sooner lull the sounding Surge.
1771 B. Franklin Autobiogr. in Wks. (1840) I. 30 It was in a place where there could be no landing, there being a great surge on the beach.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! vi Laced with white foam from the eternal surge.
1871 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) I. vii. 238 As we were just clearing the rock, the bow came obliquely to the surge.
c. figurative (or, more frequently, in figurative context) in reference to feelings, influences, actions, events, etc.: Impetuous onset or agitated movement. Also, a rapid increase in price, activity, etc., esp. over a short period.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > operation upon something > [noun] > that which > sudden
surge1520
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [noun] > instance of
surge1520
forage1598
impetuosity1632
paroxysm1650
the world > action or operation > doing > [noun] > rapid increase in activity
surge1807
the world > relative properties > quantity > increase in quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > rapid or sharp increase
mushroom growth1727
skyrocketing1821
wave1851
jump1883
mushrooming1916
bump-up1927
upsurgence1934
upsurge1935
explosion1953
surge1964
quantum jump1975
quantum leap1977
1520 R. Whittington Uulgaria sig. E.iijv He is moost moderate & studyous to auoyde surges of his passyon.
a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) i. sig. A.iiv To..strength the walles of oure heartes agaynste the gret sourges of this tempesteous sea.
1540 R. Morison tr. J. L. Vives Introd. Wysedome (new ed.) Pref. sig. A v Men assauted with the surges of sower fortune.
1551 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 2nd Pt. f. lxxx Peters litle ship..was very like..to be ouer rowne & drouned, the shourges of scismatikes & of heretikes wer so great.
1583 H. Howard Defensatiue sig. Rij Sometyme floting in the surges of mishap.
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. ii. sig. G3v They haue opened all his rotten parts, Vnto the vaunting surge of base contempt.
1682 N. Tate & J. Dryden 2nd Pt. Absalom & Achitophel 34 This year did Ziloah Rule Jerusalem, And boldly all Sedition's Syrges stem.
1807 Ld. Byron Medea of Euripides in Hours Idleness i What mind can stem the stormy surge Which rolls the tide of human woe?
1835 H. Miller Scenes & Legends N. Scotl. vii. 104 The observances of the old system were effaced..by the hasty surges of popular resentment.
1841 R. W. Emerson Over-soul in Ess. 1st Ser. (London ed.) 283 It is an ebb of the individual rivulet before the flowing surges of the sea of life.
1890 Spectator 29 Mar. No surge of public opinion would have saved them from the gallows.
1964 Ann. Reg. 1963 191 The final deficit for the fiscal year which ended on 30 June 1963 was $6,200 million, largely because of the surge in business spending and improved tax collection.
1976 Yellowstone Explorer July 7/2 The surge in the use of back-country areas is certainly as true here in Yellowstone as it is in other wild places across the country.
1980 N.Y. Times 18 Nov. b7/3 The population surge in the Sun Belt has been even greater than expected.
d. transferred in reference to various physical things, as fire, wind, sound; also to ‘rolling’ or undulating hills or the like. In Physics, a sudden or irregular change of pressure; a sudden or violent oscillation of electric current.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > [noun] > forcibly or violently
surge1667
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > [noun] > undulatory motion > violent or heavy
surge1667
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > hill > [noun] > collectively
surge1863
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > voltage > [noun] > pulse, surge
impulse1883
surge1908
pulse1932
spike1935
pip1946
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric current > flow of electricity > [noun] > pulse, surge
impulse1883
surging1904
surge1908
kick1910
pulse1932
glitch1962
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 173 The fiery Surge, that from the Precipice Of Heav'n receiv'd us falling. View more context for this quotation
1810 R. Southey Curse of Kehama xxiii. 248 The smoke and vapours of all Padalon..were spread, With surge and swell, and everlasting motion.
1863 J. R. Green Let. 23 Feb. (1901) 117 On the low surge of hills that close the horizon, is the house.
1865 S. Baring-Gould Bk. Were-wolves xiii. 233 The surge of the old Gregorian tone.
1870 J. R. Lowell Cathedral 11 The surges of the warm southwest.
1887 R. Abercromby Weather v. 167 When we look at a series of these surges [of atmospheric pressure] we find a decided tendency of the motion to travel from west to east, or from south-west to north-east.
1908 Times 3 Oct. 12/6 The ‘surge’ of the high-tension current caused some control switches to fuse.
1911 W. N. Shaw Forecasting Weather iii. 72 The last of the charts to represent the classification of isobars..are selected to show what Abercromby calls ‘surge’—that is to say, a general alteration of pressure that seems to be superposed upon the changes related to a low pressure centre.
1936 Discovery Sept. 289/2 It is thus possible to study the passage of ‘surges’ travelling along the mission line at 186,000 miles a second.
1973 Physics Bull. Mar. 148/3 The high voltage cathode-ray oscillograph..was used to detect lightning discharges and other electrical surges in high voltage transmission lines.
1979 Time 8 Jan. 80/3 That includes..keeping a weather-eye on cold surges (masses of low-temperature air moving rapidly down from Siberia).
3. Nautical, etc. The slipping back of a rope or chain wound round a capstan, etc.; more generally, a sudden jerk or strain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > sudden movement > [noun] > jerking > a jerk
spang1513
lipe1545
job1560
jert1568
abraid1570
jerk1575
flirta1592
yark1610
slip1615
flerka1653
hitch1674
toss1676
hotch1721
saccade1728
surge1748
flip1821
snatch1822
fling1826
kick1835
chuckc1843
jolt1849
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. i. 112 With our utmost efforts, and with many surges and some purchases we made use of to encrease our power.
1805 A. Duncan Mariner's Chron. IV. 109 At eleven o'clock, a fatal swell gave the ship a sudden shock: she gave a surge, and sunk almost instantaneously.
1850 G. Cupples Green Hand iv. 41/2 Till the ‘cleets’ brought him up with a ‘surge’ fit to have parted the line.
1860 Mercantile Marine Mag. 7 180 They might have seen or heard a surge of the cable.
1869 W. J. M. Rankine Cycl. Machine & Hand-tools Pl.O 2 Jerks or surges are entirely avoided.
4. Nautical. The part of a capstan or windlass upon which the rope surges.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > other equipment of vessel > [noun] > windlass > part on which rope surges (capstan or windlass)
surge1664
1664 E. Bushnell Compl. Ship-wright 67 A..Windless, with a Surdge in the middle, as is the Surdge of a Crab, or Capstane.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 154 Surge, the tapered part of the whelps, between the chocks of the capstan, upon which..the messenger may surge itself without any incumbrance.
5. Nautical. A rhythmic motion forward and aft that is in addition to any steady speed of the vessel.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [noun] > rhythmic motion forward and aft
surge1949
1949 K. C. Barnaby Basic Naval Archit. xvii. 255 A very uneven drive, such as that given by a single-cylinder paddle-wheel engine, will cause a perceptible surge.
1968 F. N. Spiess in J. F. Brahtz Ocean Engin. xv. 566 Stability against horizontal oscillatory motion (surge and sway) and against roll and pitch can chiefly be achieved by providing horizontal extent comparable to or greater than a wavelength.
1977 Offshore Engineer May 44/3 During these tests, the data acquisition system recorded..surge, sway and yaw of the lay barge.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
surge-crest n.
ΚΠ
1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 86 In vain they urge their armies to the fight: Their surge-crests crumble 'neath our stroke of might.
surge-voice n.
ΚΠ
1880 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right xxxviii, in Town & Country Jrnl. 6 Nov. 894/2 The whispering surge-voices.
b.
surge-beat adj. (also surge-beaten)
ΚΠ
a1810 P. B. Shelley Ravaillac in Posthumous Fragm. M. Nicholson 16 The surge-beaten mould.
1852 M. Arnold Tristram & Iseult i. 104 The surge-beat Cornish strand.
C2.
surge chamber n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > conveyor > [noun] > conduit, channel, or tube > pipe > for water > tank or chamber connected to
surge tank1909
surge chamber1928
1928 Daily Express 10 Oct. 12 The pent-up waters sweep through a narrow tunnel to the surge chamber of a newly built power-house, driving the turbo-generators.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVIII. 770/2 To assist regulation with long pipelines, a surge chamber is often connected to the pipeline as near as possible to the turbine, thus enabling part of the water in the pipeline to pass into the surge chamber as the turbine is closed.
surge tank n. Civil Engineering a chamber (often open to the air) connected by a T-junction to a water pipe so as to absorb surges of pressure by filling and drops in pressure by emptying.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > conveyor > [noun] > conduit, channel, or tube > pipe > for water > tank or chamber connected to
surge tank1909
surge chamber1928
1909 Trans. Amer. Soc. Mech. Engineers 30 443 ‘Surge tank’ is a term applied to a stand pipe or storage reservoir placed at the down-stream end of a closed aqueduct to prevent undue rise of pressure in case of a sudden diminution of draft, and to furnish water quickly when the gates are opened, without having to wait for the velocity in the long feeder to pick up.
1930 Engineering 3 Jan. 19/2 Each divided tunnel is provided with a separate surge tank.
1975 North Sea Background Notes (Brit. Petroleum Co.) 27 Injection water surge tanks, filters and pumps are located on this deck.
surge voltage n. the peak voltage produced in a transmission line by an electrical surge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > voltage > [noun] > pulse, surge > peak
surge voltage1904
1904 E. B. Raymond Alternating Current Engin. ii. 76 The surge voltage is an entirely separate phenomenon from that of resonance.
1979 C. A. Gross Power Syst. Anal. iv. 118 Surge voltages provide the most stringent test and supply the rationale for the standard impulse voltage waveform.
Draft additions September 2022
surge testing n. (a) Electr. the testing, under power surge conditions, of the performance of an insulating material or surge suppressor, or of the immunity of electrical or electronic equipment to disruption or damage; (b) a sudden increase in laboratory testing for a virus, microorganism, or other pathogenic agent, esp. during an epidemic of disease.
ΚΠ
1925 Electrician 24 Apr. 480/1 The surge-testing methods..have been designed to imitate actual conditions as far as possible.
1997 Network World 2 June 69/2 Equipment outages could have been avoided had the backup systems been properly tested. Surge testing of such equipment should be a given.
2004 FDA Week 6 Feb. 9 The Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) would receive $35 million to increase analytic surge testing capacity [for biological or chemical contamination], if Congress approves Bush's budget request.
2008 Depts. Labor, Health & Human Services, Educ., & Related Agencies Appropriations 2009: Hearings before Subcomm. Comm. Appropriations: Pt. 2B (House of Representatives 110th Congr., 2nd Sess.) 56 Developed staffing, stockpile, communications, and surge testing needs for incorporation into a pandemic laboratory surge plan; this is essential for quick implementation and turnaround times during the initial stages of a pandemic.
2021 MailOnline (Nexis) 30 Nov. Surge testing will also be deployed in areas of Scotland where the super-strain has been detected amid fears it could already be transmitting in the community.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online December 2022).
surgev.
/səːdʒ/, U.S. /sərdʒ/ 1. † b. passive. ? To be cast up by the surge. Obsolete.
a. intransitive. To rise and fall or toss on the waves; to ride (at anchor, or along over the waves). †In earliest use, ? to come to anchor; cf. French surgir, to come to land.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > rise and fall
lifta1400
heave and set1509
surge1511
loom1605
senda1625
pitcha1687
tittup1881
1511 Pylgrymage Richarde Guylforde (Pynson) f. liv The same Tewysdaye at nyghte late we surged in ye Rode.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. vii. 7 By force of oares we came surging along..beyond the cape of Matafus.
1592 R. Greene Pandosto (new ed.) sig. C Since thou must go to surge in the gastfull seas.
1611 High Court of Admiralty Exam. 8 June 41 The..lighter..made faste to the shippe surging at an anker in the Thames.
1850 B. Taylor Eldorado (1862) i. 2 The mass of spars and rigging drifted at her side, surging drearily on the heavy sea.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. (at cited word) A ship is said to surge on a reef when she rises and falls with the heave of the sea, so as to strike heavily.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > raising > raise [verb (intransitive)] > be raised > be cast up
surge1581
1581 T. Howell His Deuises sig. F.iiijv Twixte death and doubt, still surgde vpon the sande, Stayde vp by hope to light on fyrmer lande.
a. To rise, spring, issue, as a stream from its source, or from underground. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > flow [verb (intransitive)] > flow out or well up
well?a1200
quell1340
to well upa1387
sourd1481
surge1549
1549 W. Thomas Hist. Italie f. 27v It [sc. the Fontana da Trevi] sourgeth vnder the hille called Monte degli hortuli.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ix. 403 The Sulphatara..after an excessiue raine surgeth sixe foote high with blacke boyling water.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Surrey 79 A River..which at a place called the Swallow, sinketh unto the Earth and surgeth again some two miles off nigh Letherhead.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Warwick. 125 The river Anas in Spain,..having run many miles under ground, surgeth a greater channell then before.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > rise or go up [verb (intransitive)]
styc825
astyc950
ariseOE
upstyOE
to step upOE
upcomec1000
to come upOE
to go upOE
upwendc1200
runge?c1225
amountc1275
upgoa1325
heavec1325
uparise1340
ascend1382
higha1393
lifta1400
risea1400
skilla1400
uprisea1400
raisec1400
rearc1400
surmount1430
to get upc1450
transcenda1513
springa1525
upmounta1560
assurge?1567
hove1590
surgea1591
tower1618
hoist1647
upheave1649
to draw up1672
spire1680
insurrect1694
soar1697
upsoar1726
uprear1828
higher1889
a1591 H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 480 Till lust, as lighter, up doth surge.
1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 196 The Mountains Imaus, which towards the North surge more and more to an incomprehensible height.
3.
a. To rise in great waves or billows, as the sea; to swell or heave with great force, as a large wave; to move tempestuously.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > movement of waves > move restlessly about [verb (intransitive)] > run high, surge, or heave
flash1387
lifta1400
walterc1400
waverc1425
welter1489
jaw1513
roll?1532
surge1566
billow1596
to run high1598
estuate1658
to run steep1894
roil1913
1566 [implied in: J. Studley tr. Seneca Agamemnon [1.] 624 The surging seas. (at surging adj. a)].
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Siii/1 To Sourge, fluctuare.
1586 J. Ferne Blazon of Gentrie 298 The waues of the sea..either surged tempestuouslye or calmed quietlye according to his pleasure.
1851 J. B. Hume Diver in Poems Early Years vi It [sc. the abyss] seethes and it surges and hisses and raves, As when water by fire is cross'd.
1862 M. Hopkins Hawaii 12 Giddy precipices..against whose walls the waves beat, and surge.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. vi. 171 The sea boiled past them, surged into the waist, blinded them with spray.
1869 J. Phillips Vesuvius iv. 115 The lava surged, not flowed, over, as angry waves do over a sandy bar.
b. transferred of a crowd of people, a wind, etc.In Physics, to vary or oscillate suddenly or violently, as a pressure or an electric current.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move progressively in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > forcibly or violently
surge1845
power1862
wham1948
1845 H. B. Hirst Coming of Mammoth 14 Their forms had gone O'er the far forests, surging on.
1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia II. xi. 273 The mob pressed onward from behind, surged up almost to the barrier.
1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. i. 35 He..began to roll and surge in bed.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xvi. 115 The wind surging with the full deep boom of the distant sea against the precipice.
a1862 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1864) II. v. 409 To hear of such things is enough to make one's blood surge again.
1887 R. Abercromby Weather v. 166 Sometimes filling up of a cyclone is tolerably local; other times surging is on an enormous scale.
1891 A. Conan Doyle White Company xxxv From below there surged up the buzz of voices.
1894 Ld. Wolseley Life Marlborough I. 4 The civil wars, which about 1642, began to surge westward into Somerset and Devon.
c. figurative, chiefly surge up, of feelings, thoughts, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > [verb (intransitive)] > rise up
swellc1386
risec1390
to well up1846
surge up1853
surface1945
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > idea, notion, or concept > come to mind, occur [verb (intransitive)] > suddenly
smitec1450
shoot1542
rejounce1556
to break in1713
to cross one's mind, etc. (rarely to cross one)1768
surge up1853
strobe1977
1853 C. Brontë Villette I. x. 183 Something..that brought surging up into the mind all one's foibles and weak points.
1877 M. Oliphant Makers of Florence (ed. 2) xv. 375 All the enthusiasm of old surged up to answer this appeal.
1883 Contemp. Rev. June 768 What rival claims and pretensions have already surged up.
1908 R. Bagot Anthony Cuthbert xxiii. 309 Her mind was working rapidly, and, indeed, she was scarcely able to disentangle ideas which surged through it.
4. transitive. To cause to move in, or as in, swelling waves or billows; to drive with waves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > movement of waves > [verb (transitive)] > cause to surge
surge1607
1607 T. Walkington Optick Glasse (1664) iv. 50 Wine..calms the roughest tempest of whatsoever more vehement Imagination sourgeth in any man.
1862 G. W. Thornbury Life J. M. W. Turner I. 313 The..monster..hurls rocks at the departing vessel that..surge it back again towards the shore.
1873 J. R. Lowell Parable, ‘Said Christ Our Lord’ iv Great organs surged through arches dim Their jubilant floods in praise of Him.
5. Nautical, etc.
a. intransitive. To slip back accidentally, as a rope or chain round a capstan, windlass, etc.; to slip round without moving onwards, as a wheel.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [verb (intransitive)] > work ropes or cables in specific way > of rope or chain: slip back
surgea1625
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > move on wheels [verb (intransitive)] > slip round without moving forwards (as a wheel)
surge1882
a1625 H. Mainwaring Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. 2301) 139 When they heave at the Capstaine and the Caboll slips back againe they say the Cabell surges.
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ix. 44 If it [sc. the cable] be..slimie with ose, it surges or slips backe vnlesse they keep it close to the whelps.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxiv. 252 The chain surged so as almost to unship the barrel of the windlass.
1862 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 2) 87 Surging, the hawser slipping up the barrel of a capstan, or veering out the cable suddenly.
1882 Hedley Inventor Railw. Locomotion 59 It had been always thought that engine-wheels on a smooth surface would ‘surge’ or slip round without advancing.
b. transitive. To let go or slacken suddenly (a rope wound round a capstan, etc.); also with the capstan, etc. as object. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [verb (transitive)] > work ropes or cables in specific ways
windc1550
veer1590
veer1604
rousea1625
heave1626
overhaul1626
ease1627
pay1627
reeve1627
unbend1627
to come up1685
overhale1692
to pay away1769
surge1769
render1777
to pay out1793
to round down1793
to set upon ——1793
swig1794
veer1806
snake1815
to side out for a bend1831
rack1841
snub1841
the world > movement > absence of movement > hold or holding > releasing hold > let go (something held or grasped) [verb (transitive)] > let slip (a rope, etc.)
slip1592
surge1769
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms Choquer la tournevire, to surge the capstern.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Transl. French Terms at Dévirer le cable To surge the cable about the capstern or windlass, in order to prevent it from riding, with one part over another.
1850 H. T. Cheever Whale & his Captors ix. 141 The line would be ‘surged’, or slacked out.
1853 in E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. (1856) I. vii. 70 It's blowing the devil himself, and I am afraid to surge.
1862 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 2) 146 Secure the hawser for surging the topmast to start the crosstrees off the mast-head.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Surge Ho!, the notice given when a rope or cable is to be surged.
c. intransitive. Of a ship: To sweep, pull, or jerk in a certain direction. Also transferred.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > jerk suddenly
seela1618
lurch1834
surge1845
1845 C. Darwin Jrnl. (ed. 2) x. 212 Every now and then a puff from the mountains, which made the ship surge at her anchors.
1850 G. Cupples Green Hand vi. 75/2 Jove! how she [sc. the ship] surged to it.
1854 E. K. Kane Jrnl. 8 Aug. in Arctic Explor. (1856) I. xxvi. 338 The brig surged and righted.
1895 Outing 26 358/1 The fish surges and the rod bends alarmingly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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