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# surf

«surf» in Mova's school dictionary: **The white foamy waves that break on the shore** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (surf — uncountable); verb (surf, surfs, surfed, surfing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) The white foamy waves that break on the shore. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#m1)

2) To ride on waves standing or lying on a board. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#m2)

3) (in «surf the internet / web») To look quickly from one website to another. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#m3)

4) (informal, in «channel-surf») To change TV channels quickly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In Australia, New Zealand, the US and parts of the UK and Ireland, surfing is a big beach sport; beaches have «surf lifesavers» and flags showing where it is safe to swim. In science and geography, waves and surf shape the coast. Online, «surf the web» means browse. Phrases: «surf's up», «surf the internet», «surf lifesaving», «go surfing», «heavy surf».

### examples

- We watched the surf crashing on the rocks. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#x1)
- My cousin learnt to surf at Bondi Beach. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#x2)
- The surf was too rough for swimming today. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#x3)
- I surfed the internet to find facts about whales. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#x4)
- Surf lifesavers keep people safe at the beach. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#x5)
- Always swim between the red and yellow flags when the surf is up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#x6)
- They surfed for three hours in the morning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#x7)
- It’s me,” said Kotick, bobbing in the surf and looking like a little white slug. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/#x8)

### note

«Surf» (waves) sounds like «serf» (a poor farm worker in the past). As waves, «surf» is uncountable: «the surf is high». Safety: big surf can have rips (strong currents); swim only where lifeguards are and between the flags.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «surf» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/surf/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.