name · noun · verb · 13 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.
Australian, Received-Pronunciation:/sɜːf/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/sɝf/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Scotland:/sʌɹf/
New-Zealand, Wales:/søːf/
/seːf/Liverpool, fair–fur merger
/sɛːf/Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)f
homophone: serf (fern–fir–fur merger)
CMU ARPABET:S ER1 F
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
name
Meaning 1
Initialism of speeded up robust features.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Waves that break on an ocean shoreline.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
An instance or session of riding a surfboard in the surf.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
We went for a surf this morning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A dance popular in the 1960s in which the movements of a surfboard rider are mimicked.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
The bottom of a drain.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, countable, dialectal, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
verb
Meaning 6
To ride a wave on a surfboard; to pursue or take part in the sport of surfing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
verb
Meaning 7
To surf at a specified place.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
verb
Meaning 8
To bodysurf; to swim in the surf at a beach.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
verb
Meaning 9
To browse the Internet, television, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: ambitransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
10
noun
Meaning 10
waves breaking on the shore
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: breaker, breakers
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: wave, moving ridge
11
verb
Meaning 11
switch channels, on television
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: channel-surf
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: switch, shift, change
12
verb
Meaning 12
look around casually and randomly, without seeking anything in particular
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
browse a computer directory
surf the internet or the world wide web
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: browse
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: search, seek, look for
13
verb
Meaning 13
ride the waves of the sea with a surfboard
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
Californians love to surf
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: surfboard
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: glide
Narrower terms: windsurf
History
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.
Across languages
Translations
90 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
прибой
(priboj)
— waves that break
Cornish:
mordardh
— waves that break
Dutch:
branding
— waves that break
Esperanto:
surfo
— waves that break
Faroese:
brim
— waves that break
Finnish:
surffi
— waves that break
French:
brisants
— waves that break
Galician:
rompente
— waves that break
German:
Brandung
— waves that break
Ancient Greek:
ῥόθιον
(rhóthion)
— waves that break
Ancient Greek:
ῥηγμῑ́ν
(rhēgmī́n)
— waves that break
Hungarian:
taraj
— waves that break
Hungarian:
hullám
— waves that break
Icelandic:
brim
— waves that break
Irish:
bruth
— waves that break
Italian:
frangenti
— waves that break
Italian:
flutti
— waves that break
Māori:
auheke
— waves that break
Māori:
karekare
— waves that break
Māori:
pōhutu
— waves that break
Māori:
tai whati
— waves that break
Norwegian Bokmål:
brenning
— waves that break
Polish:
przybój
— waves that break
Portuguese:
rebentação
— waves that break
Russian:
прибо́й
(pribój)
— waves that break
Spanish:
marea
— waves that break
Spanish:
oleaje
— waves that break
Vietnamese:
cuộc lướt sóng
— waves that break
Welsh:
ewyn y don
— waves that break
Welsh:
brig y don
— waves that break
Welsh:
ewyn môr
— waves that break
Bulgarian:
ловя вълни
(lovja vǎlni)
— to ride a wave
Chinese Mandarin:
衝浪 /冲浪
(chōnglàng)
— to ride a wave
Cornish:
mordardha
— to ride a wave
Dutch:
surfen
— to ride a wave
Esperanto:
ondorajdi
— to ride a wave
Esperanto:
surfi
— to ride a wave
Finnish:
lainelautailla
— to ride a wave
French:
surfer
— to ride a wave
German:
wellenreiten
— to ride a wave
German:
surfen
— to ride a wave
Hawaiian:
e heʻe nalu
— to ride a wave
Hebrew:
גלש
— to ride a wave
Hungarian:
hullámlovagol
— to ride a wave
Hungarian:
szörfözik
— to ride a wave
Italian:
surfare
— to ride a wave
Italian:
fare surf
— to ride a wave
Japanese:
サーフインをする
(sāfin-o suru)
— to ride a wave
Māori:
whakahekeheke
— to ride a wave
Māori:
whakahekeheke ngaru
— to ride a wave
Māori:
eke ngaru
— to ride a wave
Māori:
whakaheke ngaru
— to ride a wave
Māori:
whakaretireti
— to ride a wave
Māori:
auheke
— to ride a wave
Norman:
seurfer
— to ride a wave
Polish:
surfować
— to ride a wave
Portuguese:
surfar
— to ride a wave
Russian:
занима́ться сёрфингом
(zanimátʹsja sjórfingom)
— to ride a wave
Samoan:
e fa'ase'e i le galu
— to ride a wave
Spanish:
surfear
— to ride a wave
Swedish:
surfa
— to ride a wave
Tongan:
fānifo
— to ride a wave
Turkish:
sörf yapmak
— to ride a wave
Ukrainian:
займа́тися се́рфінгом
(zajmátysja sérfinhom)
— to ride a wave
Vietnamese:
lướt sóng
— to ride a wave
Welsh:
beistonna
— to ride a wave
Welsh:
syrffio
— to ride a wave
Bulgarian:
сърфирам
(sǎrfiram)
— to browse the Internet
Catalan:
navegar
— to browse the Internet
Cornish:
rosya
— to browse the Internet
Dutch:
surfen
— to browse the Internet
Esperanto:
retumi
— to browse the Internet
Finnish:
surffata
— to browse the Internet
French:
surfer
— to browse the Internet
German:
surfen
— to browse the Internet
Hebrew:
גלש
— to browse the Internet
Hungarian:
szörfözik
— to browse the Internet
Hungarian:
szörföl
— to browse the Internet
Italian:
navigare
— to browse the Internet
Navajo:
bitaaʼ dilkʼąąs
— to browse the Internet
Norman:
seurfer
— to browse the Internet
Polish:
surfować
— to browse the Internet
Portuguese:
navegar
— to browse the Internet
Russian:
сёрфить
(sjórfitʹ)
— to browse the Internet