surf
Americannoun
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the swell of the sea that breaks upon a shore or upon shoals.
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the mass or line of foamy water caused by the breaking of the sea upon a shore, especially a shallow or sloping shore.
verb (used without object)
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to ride a surfboard.
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to float on the crest of a wave toward shore.
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to swim, play, or bathe in the surf.
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to search haphazardly, as for information on a computer network or an interesting program on television.
verb (used with object)
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to ride a surfboard on.
We surfed every big wave in sight.
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to search through (a computer network or TV channels) for information or entertainment.
noun
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waves breaking on the shore or on a reef
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foam caused by the breaking of waves
verb
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(intr) to take part in surfing
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computing (on the internet) to move freely from website to website (esp in the phrase surf the net )
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to move freely between (TV channels or radio stations)
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informal to be carried on top of something
that guy's surfing the audience
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( in combination )
trainsurfing
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Synonym Usage
See wave.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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surfsimple
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surfssimple
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have surfedperfect
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has surfedperfect
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am surfingprogressive
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are surfingprogressive
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is surfingprogressive
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have been surfingperfect progressive
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has been surfingperfect progressive
Past
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surfedsimple
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had surfedperfect
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was surfingprogressive
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were surfingprogressive
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had been surfingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of surf
First recorded in 1600–10; earlier suff; of uncertain origin
Explanation
The surf is what you see when you stand on the beach and look at the ocean — waves rising and breaking on the shore. It’s also what you do when you ride those waves. Surf’s up, dude! Surf means "crashing waves," but it's also a verb meaning to ride those waves with a surf board. When you surf, you stand upright on a board and ride over breaking waves into the shore. A more figurative meaning of surf is "search casually," as in "channel surf," or click idly between TV stations. The origin of the word is a mystery, though it's thought to have first been used in reference to the Indian coast.
Vocabulary lists containing surf
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The currents and rough surf will be strongest at south- to southwest-facing beaches and harbors, according to the forecast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Officials warned of hazardous conditions — such as high surf and strong rip currents — across much of the Southern California coastline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
There’s a persistent swell coming from the south, forecasters said, with peak surf as high as 4 to 8 feet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Nolan’s crew watched anxiously as the surf tore pieces off their colossal prop of fiberglass, wood and steel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
There she rolled a moment in the shallow surf and lay panting, with the welcome grit of the beach on her cheek.
From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder
Generally the play surfs along on waves of lively, crisp dialogue at a series of meetings, with the well-orchestrated direction of Kenny Leon keeping the pacing brisk and the tone light.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Efrus, a 4-year-old Jack Russell terrier, surfs the waves in the Pacific waters off Peru.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
There’s another outstanding tight end in Ryner Swanson of Laguna Beach, a Brigham Young commit who also plays defense, surfs and doesn’t let one person bring him down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2023
He grew up surfing at Makaha and now surfs all over the world, and has trained at the Slater wave pool and a Texas one.
From Washington Times ● May 29, 2023
She surfs waves as big as houses and jumps off anything.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
These were made for girls who actually surfed.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
The goal survived a VAR check for a potential foul on Martinez and Arsenal surfed the wave of momentum to double their lead four minutes later.
From Barron's ● Dec. 30, 2025
Post-M.B.A., you surfed in Sri Lanka, hiked in Nepal, rode horses in Afghanistan and didn’t call your parents—or anyone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
Sharks were creatures of the deep ocean, he reasoned, and he surfed in the shallower bays.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2025
One day we worked on verb tenses: “I surf the Net, I surfed the Net, I was surfing the Net.”
From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson
He works as a digger driver in the family construction business when not surfing.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
After losing his leg as a teenager, surfer Llywelyn Williams became a four-times para surfing world champion.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
She was outgoing and active and enjoyed surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and volunteering at a farm once a week, Walker said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
“We usually say, if it’s a beach where there’s surfing, they like the same surfing waves that people like,” said Karen Martin, a professor of biology at Pepperdine University and leading grunion expert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
He’d spent most of the last month with Zooey or couch surfing at various friends’ houses, but now that he was back home, he seemed hell-bent on making up for lost time.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
