channel-surf

American  

[chan-l-surf] / ˈtʃæn lˌsɜrf /

verb (used without object)

1. to change from one channel on a television set to another with great or unusual frequency, especially by using a remote control.

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Other Word Forms

• channel surfer noun

Etymology

Origin of channel-surf

An Americanism dating back to 1985–90

Example Sentences

And then we follow that person—the teacher, the actress, the working woman—back home, where, watching TV with her girls, she is annoyed when they channel-surf right past her commercial.

From Slate • Sep. 13, 2017

But that’s merely the starting point of an extremely heady, ­rapid-fire channel-surf view of America.

From Washington Post • Aug. 16, 2017

Academics took note of a newly-empowered television viewer, whose ability to channel-surf "must be seen as a crack in a tightly controlled political economic system."

From Slate • Jun. 27, 2012

If you channel-surf with any regularity, you have almost certainly noticed that shows offering absurdly close-up views of nature, and especially of animals, have been popping up everywhere lately.

From New York Times • Apr. 21, 2010

The extra commercials that networks air to offset their higher costs have only prompted viewers to channel-surf more frequently away from the major sports.

From Time Magazine Archive