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\ ˈsərf 
\
\Definition of surf
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : the swell of the sea that breaks upon the shore
2 : the foam, splash, and sound of breaking waves
surf
verbsurfed; surfing; surfs
Definition of surf (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : to ride the surf (as on a surfboard)
2 : to scan a wide range of offerings for something of interest
: to scan the offerings of (such as television or the Internet) for something of interest
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Examples of surf in a Sentence
Noun
We could hear the roar of the surf.
beachgoers romping in the swirling surf Verb
He learned to surf when he was living in California.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Given that Hemsworth is equally as passionate about the sand and surf, that may be what brought them together.
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Kaitlin Reilly, refinery29.com, "Meet Liam Hemsworth’s Model Girlfriend, Gabriella Brooks," 17 Jan. 2020 For big trout, wade the surf at dawn and throw a large topwater like the Rapala Skitter V or a swimbait like the Slick; www.ateamfishing.com.
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Frank Sargeant, al, "Friday Fishing Report: What’s biting on Alabama lakes and rivers right now?," 18 Oct. 2019 Four acres of sand and surf for paws to paddle in, and a good excuse to spend four hours in Long Beach’s Belmont Shore.
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Los Angeles Times, "Four Hours in Belmont Shore: A dog- and kid-friendly tour," 27 Sep. 2019 Aragon, who is originally from Downey, started surfing at age 15 and won her first surf contest in Huntington Beach.
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Priscella Vega, Daily Pilot, "Three surfers and industry leaders leave their mark as new inductees in H.B.’s Surfers’ Hall of Fame," 2 Aug. 2019 Surf’s up! Jaden Smith rang in his 21st birthday on Monday with an afternoon of surf and sand in Malibu, California.
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Helen Murphy, PEOPLE.com, "Hitting the Waves! Jaden Smith Spends His 21st Birthday Surfing in Malibu," 9 July 2019 Even in NSW and Victoria, it’s business as usual in many areas, such as the northern NSW surf town of Byron Bay and Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.
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National Geographic, "Traveling to Australia? Here’s what you need to know," 8 Jan. 2020 When the water park opens, Hagerty and Braunsdorf plan to snowboard and surf during a single visit.
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Karen Heller, Anchorage Daily News, "The future of American skiing may be inside a New Jersey mall," 8 Jan. 2020 The high surf advisory was in effect until 9 p.m. Thursday.
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Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, "Watch a huge wave knock a man off a rock into the ocean near Santa Cruz," 2 Jan. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Lakewood’s new law, which went into effect earlier this month, expands the ban beyond just texting, to cover things like sending an email or surfing the internet.
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Ann Norman, cleveland, "Should your community ban all handheld cell phone use while driving?," 27 Dec. 2019 Adam Coons, 37, was surfing his last wave of the day near Santa Rosa Island, one of the Channel Islands, on Saturday afternoon when the shark suddenly emerged.
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USA TODAY, "Surfer attacked by shark calls Coast Guard rescue a "Christmas miracle"," 24 Dec. 2019 Commuters are finding places to sleep near their workplaces via Facebook or online couch-surfing communities.
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Washington Post, "Parisians dodge strikes by logging on to share rides, bikes," 10 Dec. 2019 Dedicated to lifelong learning, Rev. Hicks loved to read and surf the internet.
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courant.com, "James Gilbert Hicks Sr.," 23 July 2019 Bran Stark embodies curatorial fandom — including its worst aspects
It must be said: Bran embodies the stereotype of a fannish geek that spends his entire day sitting surfing the internet.
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Aja Romano, Vox, "Why the ending of Game of Thrones elevated the worst of fan culture," 20 July 2019 Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images As a result, surfing the internet is often a more limited experience than people in the West are used to.
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Jared Malsin, WSJ, "Throughout Middle East, the Web Is Being Walled Off," 18 July 2018 The video, directed by Rich Lee, is no less suffused with SoCal imagery, including scenes of the busy Port of Long Beach and of Del Rey surfing amid hulking offshore drilling rigs.
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Los Angeles Times, "Lana Del Rey shares video for two new California-kissed singles: Watch," 22 Aug. 2019 Aeronautical engineers have long dreamed of flying platoons of planes in a similar way, with trailing aircraft surfing the wakes of those leading the convoy.
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The Economist, "Aviation If aircraft can copy the way geese fly, they will save fuel," 5 Dec. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'surf.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for surf
surf
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of surf
(Entry 1 of 2)
: large waves that fall on the shore and the white foam and sound that they produce
surf
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of surf (Entry 2 of 2)
: to ride on ocean waves using a special board (called a surfboard)
: to look for information or other interesting things on the Internet
See the full definition for surf in the English Language Learners Dictionary
surf
noun\ ˈsərf \
\Kids Definition of surf
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : the waves of the sea that splash on the shore
2 : the sound, splash, and foam of breaking waves
surf
verbsurfed; surfing
Kids Definition of surf (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : to ride the incoming waves of the sea (as on a surfboard)
2 : to scan a wide range of offerings (as on television or the Internet) for something that is interesting or fills a need
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Comments on surf
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Time Traveler for surf
The first known use of surf was in 1685
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