surf
/səːf
/noun
1 [mass noun] The mass or line of foam formed by waves breaking on a seashore or reef: the roar of the surf...
- Occasionally, we could hear surf breaking on the reef that surrounded us.
- With a roar of surf, the wave struck the beach and raced inland toward them.
- The game is played in the surf, in rough surf with decent booming waves.
2 [in singular] A spell of surfing: he went for an early surf...
- I got up early this morning in the hope to have a surf before work - only to find that it was dead flat here at Llandudno.
verb
1 [no object] Stand or lie on a surfboard and ride on a wave towards the shore: he’s learning to surf...
- He had surfed towards the shore, entered the buffer zone on his board, caught another wave, with the consequence that after a couple of seconds he entered the flagged area and then commenced to walk to the shore.
- The sand is black, it was very hot and sunny and if we had taken a surfboard we could have surfed on the waves.
- The Floridian surfed well, but his Brazilian counterpartmanaged an 8.4 toward the end and swung the lead.
1.1 [with object] Ride (a wave) towards the shore on a surfboard: he has built a career out of surfing big waves...
- We don't know if we still have it in us to surf the big waves.
- For Slater, his first WCT final of 2004 remained well within grasp until the last wave was surfed.
- Thanks to its flat bottom, the Transformer spins like a top with the slightest of strokes and surfs standing waves as nimbly as a true kahuna.
1.2 informal Ride on the roof or outside of a fast-moving vehicle, typically a train, for excitement: he fell to his death while surfing on a 70 mph train
2 [with object] Move from site to site on (the Internet): the device allows you to surf the Net and send emails...
- The Multi.phone allows users to surf the Internet and send e-mails or text messages.
- Simply surfing the Internet, reading email, downloading music or other files can infect your PC without you knowing it.
- Basically, I surf the Internet, send a little e-mail, download some music and occasionally work with Microsoft Word.
2.1 another term for channel-surf.He channel surfed aimlessly as I stared blankly at the TV....
- He was channel surfing again like he always did when he had nothing better to do.
- While I was channel surfing, the front door opened and Noah rushed in.
Derivatives
surfy
- When I looked left as I came out of the woods, I could see what appeared to be 30 miles of flat, sunny, golden, wet, surfy shore, a sand highway fringed by blue water and dotted here and there with surfcasters.
- Covering surfy T-shirts, smart shirts, trendy sweats and cool knits, it's not as over the top as some brands and is selling well.
- The boarders, though, are weaving a fine line between staying true to their surfy, freewheeling roots and the rewards of success.
Origin
Late 17th century: apparently from obsolete suff, of unknown origin, perhaps influenced by the spelling of surge.