body-surf

American  

[bod-ee-surf] / ˈbɒd iˌsɜrf /

verb (used without object)

1. to ride a cresting wave toward the shore by lying face down in the water with the arms stretched forward in the direction of the wave.

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body-surf British  

verb

1. to ride a wave by lying on it without a surfboard

2. informal to fling oneself prone onto a crowd of people, for example on a dance floor or at a rock concert, and move or be carried over their heads

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Other Word Forms

• body-surfer
  noun
• bodysurfer
  noun
• bodysurfing
  noun

Etymology

Origin of body-surf

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

I eventually learned that she had been a fast runner and terrific swimmer as a girl and used to body-surf in fifteen-foot-high ocean waves before she married my dad.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 12, 2021

Jovic said he saw the man catch a wave “which he managed to body-surf all the way in”.

From The Guardian • Apr. 15, 2018

"If they try to body-surf on that, good night," he muttered; for he knew the swimmer did not live who would tackle it.

From On the Makaloa Mat by London, Jack