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

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Etymology

Origin of channel-surf

An Americanism dating back to 1985–90

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

channel-surf

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

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