surf means waves that break on an ocean shoreline. It carries an Arena rating of 1571, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, surf ranks #11,037 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
surf is pronounced /sɜːf/.
Why “surf” is a great word
The breaking, foaming waves at the shore and the act of riding them upon a board, or, by extension, to navigate the internet with similar fluid motion. Probably from earlier English *suff* or *suffe* (meaning 'the inrush of the sea towards the shore'), of uncertain origin, possibly imitative of the sound of waves. The verb in the surfing sense is first attested in 1917; the internet browsing sense was popularized by Jean Armour Polly. Unlike "swell," which describes the long, gathering heave of the open ocean, or "browse," which implies a leisurely, landlocked skimming, "surf" carries the kinetic verve of motion atop a cresting force. It is the thunderous lace of foam dragged back across gravel, the suspended, green-lit moment inside the tube’s curve, and the aimless, flickering journey from link to link—the human pursuit of a fleeting, cresting order before it dissolves into white noise.
Etymology
Probably from earlier suff, suffe (“the inrush of the sea towards the shore”), possibly from Middle English suffe. Compare sough, surf (“a gutter, drain, sewer, trench”) and sough (“a soothing, gentle, murmuring sound of wind or water”). Alternatively, possibly of Indo-Aryan origin, as the word was formerly a reference to the coast of India, though this is doubtful as no positive etymon can be identified. The verb is from 1917. The verb referring to "browsing the Internet" was popularized by Jean Armour Polly.
noun
- Waves that break on an ocean shoreline.e.g.“[…] perhaps it was the look of the island, with its gray, melancholy woods, and wild stone spires, and the surf that we could both see and hear foaming and thundering on the steep beach […]” — 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
- An instance or session of riding a surfboard in the surf.e.g.“We went for a surf this morning.”
- A dance popular in the 1960s in which the movements of a surfboard rider are mimicked.e.g.“She [...] loves to cook, sew and dance. She's up on all the latest steps like the frug, the hully-gully and the surf.” — 1964 July 15, The Australian, Sydney, page 20, column 3:
- The bottom of a drain.
verb
- To ride a wave on a surfboard; to pursue or take part in the sport of surfing.
- To surf at a specified place.
- To bodysurf; to swim in the surf at a beach.e.g.“Such diversion as Podson could extort from his isolation was soon vitiated by repetition. He surfed. He sun-baked - with discretion till his skin had peeled and given him a harder cuticle.” — 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 90:
- To browse the Internet, television, etc.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- surfriding 66% match — The sport of riding a surfboard using the power of the waves. vs surf →
- surge 57% match — A sudden transient rush, flood or increase. vs surf →
- snurfing 57% match — The activity of using a snurfer, the action of the verb snurf. vs surf →
- skurf 56% match — to ride on a small surfboard towed behind a speedboat, after the manner of water skiing vs surf →
- netsurfing 56% match — The activity or hobby of surfing the Internet. vs surf →
- skurfing 56% match — A water sport similar to waterskiing except that a single board is used instead of skis. vs surf →
- cybersurf 55% match — To surf the Internet. vs surf →
- bodysurf 55% match — To ride waves or surf without equipment, such as a surfboard. vs surf →