surfing

American

[sur-fing] / ˈsɜr fɪŋ /

noun

the act or sport of riding the surf, as on a surfboard.

surfing British

/ ˈsɜːfɪŋ /

noun

the sport of riding towards shore on the crest of a wave by standing or lying on a surfboard

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

surfer

noun

Etymology

Origin of surfing

First recorded in 1915–20; surf + -ing ¹

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:

surfing

He plans on surfing there with his wife and two kids, aged 13 and 15.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026

The waves are so epic in the “Spanish Village by the Sea” that it beat out all other California beach cities to host the surfing competition in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

Voters agreed in November 2024, with 55% support, and the new park, Sunset Dunes, opened in April 2025, named for the impressive sand dunes lining Ocean Beach, one of the nation’s premier big-wave surfing spots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Tom says: "Tahiti is coming to my head. That's with my surfing background. The place looks beautiful. And we will be going there. I'm 40 next December so..."

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Which, when you think about it, is kind of not the point of surfing.

From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023