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Webster 1913 Edition


Surf

Surf

,
Noun.
[Formerly spelled
suffe
, and probably the same word as E.
sough
.]
The swell of the sea which breaks upon the shore, esp. upon a sloping beach.
Surf bird
(Zool.)
,
a ploverlike bird of the genus
Aphriza
, allied to the turnstone.
Surf clam
(Zool.)
,
a large clam living on the open coast, especially
Mactra solidissima
(syn.
Spisula solidissima
). See
Mactra
.
Surf duck
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of sea ducks of the genus
Oidemia
, especially
Oidemia percpicillata
; – called also
surf scoter
. See the Note under
Scoter
.
Surf fish
(Zool.)
,
any one of numerous species of California embiotocoid fishes. See
Embiotocoid
.
Surf smelt
.
(Zool.)
See
Smelt
.
Surf whiting
.
(Zool.)
See under
Whiting
.

Surf

,
Noun.
The bottom of a drain.
[Prov. Eng.]

Webster 1828 Edition


Surf

SURF

,
Noun.
The swell of the sea which breaks upon the shore, or upon sand banks or rocks.
1.
In agriculture, the bottom or conduit of a drain. [Local.]

Definition 2024


surf

surf

English

Noun

surf (uncountable)

  1. Waves that break on an ocean shoreline.
    • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
      ...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...
    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 5
      'But when the surf fell enough for the boats to get ashore, and Greening held a lantern for me to jump down into the passage, after we had got the side out of the tomb, the first thing the light fell on at the bottom was a white face turned skyward.
    • 1900, Joseph Grinnell, Birds of the Kotzebue Sound Region, Alaska, page 12:
      It was alone, nervously alighting and flying short distances along the surf.
    • 1941, Raymond Russell Camp, Fishing the Surf, page 248:
      In most instances the inshore holes or pockets along the surf do not produce as well as the cuts or sloughs between sand bars.
    • 1963, Vlad Evanoff, Spin Fishing, page 181:
      Snook are found in rivers, canals, inlets and along the surf, especially around sand bars, tidal rips, jetties, bridges and piers.
  2. (Britain, dialect) The bottom of a drain.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

surf (third-person singular simple present surfs, present participle surfing, simple past and past participle surfed)

  1. To ride a wave, usually on a surfboard.
  2. To browse the Internet.

Translations


Derived terms

Derived terms

Anagrams


Spanish

Etymology

From English surf.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /suɾf/, /so̞ɾf/

Noun

surf m (uncountable)

  1. surfing

Derived terms