Standard Lemma guide

channel-surf

verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To skim through a series of television stations, each for a brief moment, by repeated use of a remote control.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • I channel-surfed for half an hour before deciding there was nothing worth watching.
  • To change the channel is one thing, but he was channel-surfing so much that I didn't even enjoy watching TV with him.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: channel hop, zap

Antonyms: stay tuned

Broader terms: change the channel

2

verb

Meaning 2

switch channels, on television

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: surf

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: switch, shift, change

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.