surge means A sudden transient rush, flood or increase. It carries an Arena rating of 1738, earned across 8 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, surge ranks #86 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #135 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #719 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,111 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
surge is pronounced /sɝd͡ʒ/.
Why “surge” is a great word
A sudden, powerful forward or upward movement, as of water, people, or energy. From the verb, from Middle English surgen, from Middle French sourgir, from Old French surgir, from Latin surgō (contraction of surrigō), from sub- ("up from below") + regō ("to lead, keep straight, guide"); first attested as a verb in the late 15th century, as a noun in the early 16th century. Unlike an “inrush,” which specifies an inward flood, or a “wave,” which implies a rhythmic, predictable crest, a surge is a singular, decisive heave. It is the tower of seawater that climbs the seawall, the collective intake of breath before a roar, the frantic leap of voltage through a failing grid—a brief rebellion against the steady state, an insistence on refusing to stay where it was.
Etymology
The verb is from Middle English ^((please verify)) surgen, possibly from Middle French sourgir, from Old French surgir (“to rise, ride near the shore, arrive, land”), from Old Catalan surgir, from Latin surgō, contraction of surrigō, subrigō (“lift up, raise, erect; intransitive rise, arise, get up, spring up, grow, etc.”, transitive verb), from sub (“from below; up”) + regō (“to stretch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root *h₃reǵ-; see regent. Doublet of source and sourd. The noun is from the verb.
noun
- A sudden transient rush, flood or increase.e.g.“He felt a surge of excitement.”
- The maximum amplitude of a vehicle's forward/backward oscillation.
- A sudden electrical spike or increase of voltage and current.e.g.“A power surge at that generator created a blackout across the whole district.”
- A momentary reversal of the airflow through the compressor section of a jet engine due to disruption of the airflow entering the engine's air intake, accompanied by loud banging noises, emission of flame, and temporary loss of thrust.
- The swell or heave of the sea.e.g.“He that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.” — 1901, Bible (American Standard Version), James i. 6
- A deployment in large numbers at short notice.e.g.“surge capacity; surge fleet; surge deployment capabilities”
- The tapered part of a windlass barrel or a capstan, upon which the cable surges, or slips.
- A spring; a fountain.e.g.“1523-1525, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, Froissart's Chronicles
all great rivers are gorged and assembled of various surges and springs of water”
verb
- To rush, flood, or increase suddenly.e.g.“Toaster sales surged last year.”
- To accelerate forwards, particularly suddenly.e.g.“A ship surges forwards, sways sideways and heaves up.”
- To experience a momentary reversal of airflow through the compressor section due to disruption of intake airflow.e.g.“Use of maximum reverse thrust at low speeds can cause the engine to surge from ingesting its own exhaust.”
- To slack off a line.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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