board

en-noun

board (countable and uncountable, plural boards)

→ Japanese: ボード (bōdo)

From Middle English bord, from Old English bord, from Proto-West Germanic *bord, from Proto-Germanic *burdą (“board; plank; table”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerdʰ- (“to cut”). The senses "food" and "council" are by metonymy from the sense "table."

inh

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

en:clipping of blackboard, surfboard, or others

Short for blackboard, whiteboard, chessboard, surfboard, circuit board, message board (on the Internet), bulletin board, etc.


left

From Middle English left, luft, leoft, lift, lyft, from Old English left, lyft (“weak, clumsy, foolish”), attested in Old English lyftādl (“palsy, paralysis”), from Proto-Germanic *luft-, from *lubjaną (“to castrate, lop off”) (compare dialectal English lib, West Frisian lobje, Dutch lubben), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lewp-, *(s)lup- (“hanging limply”). Compare Scots left (“left”), North Frisian lefts, leeft, leefts (“left”), West Frisian lofts (“left”), dialectal Dutch loof (“weak, worthless”), Low German lucht (“left”).

cog

(surfing) A wave breaking from left to right (viewed from the shore).


right

duty

antonym(s) of “legal or moral entitlement”

From Middle English right, righte, reght, reghte, riȝt, riȝte, from Old English riht, reht, ġeriht (“that which is right, just, or proper; a right; due; law; canon; rule; direction; justice; equity; standard”), from Proto-West Germanic *reht, from Proto-Germanic *rehtą (“a right”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵt- (“to straighten; direct”). Cognate with Dutch recht (“a right; privilege”), German Recht (“a right”), Danish ret (“a right”).

der

(surfing) A wave breaking from right to left (viewed from the shore).


gun

Sranan Tongo: gon

From Middle English gunne, gonne, possibly from Gunnhild, a female given name formerly used as a nickname for engines of war. The name is composed of the Norse elements gunnr and hildr, both meaning "battle".

is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me

you get more with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone

2000, Drew Kampion, surfline.com
by the winter of 1962, the Brewer Surfboards Hawaii gun was the most in-demand big-wave equipment on the North Shore.

(surfing) A long surfboard designed for surfing big waves (not the same as a longboard, a gun has a pointed nose and is generally a little narrower).


rail

→ Catalan: rail

→ Dutch: rail

→ French: rail

→ Japanese: レール (rēru)

→ Punjabi: ਰੇਲ (rel)

→ Spanish: raíl

→ Swahili: reli

→ Tibetan: རི་ལི (ri li, “train”)

From Middle English rail, rayl, *reȝel, *reȝol (found in reȝolsticke (“a ruler”)), partly from Old English regol (“a ruler, straight bar”) and partly from Old French reille; both from Latin regula (“rule, bar”), from regō (“to rule, to guide, to govern”); see regular. Doublet of regal, regula, rigol, and rule.

doublet

Rails alone can only ever have a marginal effect on a board's general turning ability.

c. 2000, Nick Carroll, surfline.com http://www.surfline.com/community/whoknows/10_21_rails.cfm

(surfing) One of the lengthwise edges of a surfboard.


break

From Middle English breken, from Old English brecan (“to break”), from Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). The word is a doublet of bray.
Cognates
Cognates of Germanic origin include Scots brek (“to break”), West Frisian brekke (“to break”), Dutch breken (“to break”), Low German breken (“to break”), German brechen (“to break”), French broyer (“to crush, grind”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (brikan, “to break, destroy”), Norwegian brek (“desire, yearning”).
Also cognate with Albanian brishtë (“fragile”), Latin frangō (“break, break up, shatter”, verb), whence English fracture and other terms – fragile, frail, fraction, and fragment.

cog

The final break in the Greenmount area is Kirra Point.

(surfing) A place where waves break (that is, where waves pitch or spill forward creating white water).


catch

en-verb

catch (third-person singular simple present catches, present participle catching, simple past and past participle caught)

catches (present singular third-person)
catching (participle present)
caught (participle past)
caught (past)
catch (infinitive)

→ French: catch

→ Kabuverdianu:

→ Portuguese: cachir

→ Spanish: cachar

From Middle English cacchen, from Anglo-Norman cachier, variant of Old French chacier, from Late Latin captiāre, from Latin captāre, frequentative of capere. Akin to Modern French chasser (from Old French chacier) and Spanish cazar, and thus a doublet of chase. Compare ketch. Displaced Middle English fangen ("to catch"; > Modern English fang (verb)), from Old English fōn (“to seize, take”); Middle English lacchen ("to catch" and heavily displaced Modern English latch), from Old English læċċan.
The verb became irregular, possibly under the influence of the semantically similar latch (from Old English læċċan), whose past tense was lahte, lauhte, laught (Old English læhte), until becoming regularised in Modern English.

gloss

caught with one's fingers in the cookie jar

don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear

you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar

you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

you catch more flies with honey than vinegar

you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

If you are surfing a wave through the rocks, make sure you have a clear route before catching the wave.

2001, John Lull, Sea Kayaking Safety & Rescue, page 203:

(transitive, surfing) To contact a wave in such a way that one can ride it back to shore.


mal

(surfing) A longboard (type of surfboard).


kick out

en-verb

kick out (third-person singular simple present kicks out, present participle kicking out, simple past and past participle kicked out)

kicks out (present singular third-person)
kicking out (participle present)
kicked out (participle past)
kicked out (past)


hook

sometimes in Northern England and Ireland, otherwise obsolete

From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hōk, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz, variant of *hakô (“hook”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kog-, *keg-, *keng- (“peg, hook, claw”).
Cognates
Compare West Frisian heak, Dutch haak (“hook”)) (compare West Frisian/Dutch hoek (“hook, angle, corner”), Low German Hook, Huuk); also related to hake.

This maneuver involves a sharp turn, back into the hook of the wave.

1963, Grant W. Kuhns, On Surfing, page 67:

(surfing) Synonym of shoulder (“the part of a wave that has not yet broken”)


log

From Middle English logg, logge (first recorded in Anglo-Latin as loggum), of uncertain origin, but probably from Old Norse lóg, lág (“felled tree, log”), derived from Old Norse liggja (“to lie”). If so, then cognate with Norwegian låg (“fallen tree”), Dutch loog (“wood, timber, lumber”).
Alternatively, directly from Norwegian låg (“fallen tree”), which could have been borrowed through the Norwegian timber trade. However the Old Norse/Middle Norwegian vowel is long while Middle English vowel is short.

1999, Neal Miyake https://web.archive.org/web/20060530122555/http://www.iav.com/~sponge/sesh/new2/sesh213.htm
I know he hadn’t surfed on a log much in his childhood


lid

Inherited from Middle English lid, lyd, from Old English hlid, from Proto-West Germanic *hlid, from Proto-Germanic *hlidą (compare Dutch lid, German Lid (“eyelid”), Swedish lid (“gate”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlitós (“covered”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (“to cover”).

Mal rider, shortboard or lid everyone surfs like a kook sometimes.

the rest of us managed to dodge out of control lid riders

(surfing, slang, chiefly Australia) A bodyboard or bodyboarder.


tube

From Middle French tube, from Latin tubus (“tube, pipe”), related to tuba (“long trumpet; war-trumpet”), of obscure ultimate origin, but possibly connected to tībia (“shinbone, reed-pipe”), see there.

you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube

you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube

(surfing) A wave which pitches forward when breaking, creating a hollow space inside.


rip

rip (third-person singular simple present rips, present participle ripping, simple past and past participle ripped)

rips (present singular third-person)
ripping (participle present)
ripped (participle past)
ripped (past)

From Middle English rippen, from earlier ryppen (“to pluck”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rupjaną, *ruppōną (compare West Frisian rippe, ripje, roppe, ropje (“to rip”), Dutch dialectal rippen, Low German ruppen, German Low German röpen, German rupfen), intensive of *raupijaną (compare Old English rīpan, rīepan (“to plunder”), West Frisian rippe (“to rip, tear”), German raufen (“to rip”)), causative of Proto-Indo-European *roub- ~ *reub- (compare Albanian rrabe ‘maquis’, possibly Latin rubus (“bramble”)), variant of *Hrewp- (“to break”). More at reave, rob.

(intransitive, surfing, slang) To surf extremely well.


outside

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Nattes à chat-outside.wav

When a wave mounds on the outside and takes its shape, a surfer quickly paddles to the peak, positions himself in its evolving momentum, swings his board around, aligns with the peak, and thrusts himself into its cascading shape.

2011, Rick Hansen, Leadership and The Art of Surfing, page xi:

(surfing) The outer part of the sea, away from the peak of a wave.


soup

en-noun

soup (countable and uncountable, plural soups)

→ Tamil: சூப் (cūp)

→ Thai: ซุป (súp)

Wikiquote
The noun is from Middle English soupe, sowpe, from Old French soupe, souppe, sope, from Late Latin suppa (“sopped bread”), from Proto-Germanic *supô (compare Middle Dutch sope (“broth”)). Doublet of zuppa. See also sop and supper.
The verb is from the noun.

(figuratively) Any mixture or substance suggestive of soup consistency.


cowabunga

/ˌkæɔəˈbaŋɡə/

/ˌkaʊəˈbʌŋɡə/

/ˌkaʊəˈbʌŋɡə/

Unknown, but was popularized (as Kowa-Bunga) by Chief Thunderthud on the American children's show Howdy Doody in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and became associated with American surfing culture. By the early 1980s, it was used as the catch-phrase of Cookie Monster on the American television show Sesame Street, and gained popularity with a broader audience after its use in the American cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (For further treatment, see here.)

Cowabunga, dude!

Kowa-Bunga! Then Me Fix You Good! You Be Sorry.

Shouting the surfer's cry ‘Cowabunga!’ they climb a 12-ft. wall of water and ‘take the drop’ off its shoulder.

Both words turn up in the same sentence—as in ‘Cowabunga, it's humongous!’—when the children crowd around some toy.

1991 December 9, The New Yorker, page 115:

(slang, originally US, usually humorous) Expressing amazement, enthusiasm, or joy.

Cookie Monster
Howdy Doody
surfing culture


fin

Dutch language
German language
Latin language
Middle English language
Old English language
Old Irish language
Proto-Germanic language
Proto-Indo-European language
Swedish language
Tocharian A language
fin
fin (disambiguation)

From Middle English fin, from Old English finn, from Proto-Germanic *finnō, *finǭ (“dorsal fin”) (compare Dutch vin, German Finne, Swedish finne, fena), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pīn- (“backbone, dorsal fin”) (compare Old Irish ind (“end, point”), Latin pinna (“feather, wing, fin”), Tocharian A spin (“hook”).

der-lite

(surfing) A similar structure on the bottom of a surfboard, used to help steer it.


pocket

→ Japanese: ポケット

→ Welsh: poced

From Middle English pocket (“bag, sack”), from Anglo-Norman poket, Old Northern French poquet, poquete, diminutive of poque, poke (“bag, sack”) (compare modern Norman pouquette and modern French pochette from Old French pochete, from puche), from Frankish *pokā (“pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *pukkô, *pukô (“bag; pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Doublet of pochette. Cognate with Middle Dutch poke, Alemannic German Pfoch (“purse, bag”), Old English pocca, pohha (“poke, pouch, pocket, bag”), Old Norse poki (“bag, pocket”). Compare the related poke (“sack or bag”). See also Modern French pochette and Latin bucca.

der

(surfing) The unbroken part of a wave that offers the surfer the most power.


slot

From Middle English slot, from Old French esclot, likely from Old Norse slóð (“track”). As a gambling machine, via clipping of slot machine. Compare sleuth. The scheduling (calendar) sense is by a metaphor whereby the time span is equated with the segment of a page or part of a device that represents it.

(slang, surfing) The barrel or tube of a wave.


barrel

From Middle English barel, from Anglo-Norman baril, Old French baril, bareil (“barrel”), of uncertain origin. An attempt to link baril to Old French barre (“bar, bolt”) (compare Medieval Latin barra (“bar, rod”)) via assumed Vulgar Latin *barrīculum meets the phonological requirement, but fails to connect the word semantically. The alternative connection to Frankish *baril, *beril or Gothic *𐌱𐌴𐍂𐌹𐌻𐍃 (*bērils, “container for transport”), from Proto-Germanic *barilaz, *bērilaz (“barrel, jug, container”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, transport”), is more plausible as it connects not only the form of the word but also the sense; equivalent to bear + -le. Compare also Old High German biril (“jug, large pot”), Luxembourgish Bärel, Bierel (“jug, pot”), Old Norse berill (“barrel for liquids”), Old English byrla (“barrel of a horse, trunk, body”). More at bear.

vat

round vessel made from staves bound with a hoop

(surfing) A wave that breaks with a hollow compartment.

tynnyri

surfing: wave that breaks with a hollow compartment


kamikaze

[ˌkʰɑmɪˈkʰɑːzɪi̯]

Borrowed from Japanese 神風(かみかぜ) (kamikaze, “divine wind”).


pump

From Middle English pumpe, possibly from Middle Dutch pompe (“pipe, water conduit”) or Middle Low German pumpe (“pump”), probably ultimately imitative.
Compare Dutch pompen, German pumpen, and Danish pompe; also Spanish bomba (“pump”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

She gave the other girl a pump on her new bike.

(colloquial) A ride on a bicycle given to a passenger, usually on the handlebars or fender.


pump

The etymology of the term is unclear and disputed. One possibility is that it comes from pomp (“ornamentation”). Another is that it refers to the sound made by the foot moving inside the shoe when dancing. The Oxford English Dictionary claims that it appeared in the 16th century, and lists its origin as "obscure". It has also been linked to the Dutch pampoesje, possibly borrowed from Javanese pampus, ultimately from Persian پاپوش (pâpuš), borrowed from Arabic بَابُوش (bābūš).

unk

obscure

der

Arabic بَابُوش (bābūš)

She was wearing a lovely new pair of pumps.

(chiefly Canada, US) A type of women's shoe which leaves the instep uncovered and has a relatively high heel, especially a stiletto (with a very high and thin heel)


goofy

From the way the Disney character Goofy was first depicted surfing, with right foot forward.

(surfing, snowboarding) Riding with the right foot forward.


goofy

(surfing, snowboarding) One who rides with the right foot forward.


lull

From Middle English lullen, lollen. Originally, perhaps expressive in origin from la-la-la or lu-lu-lu sounds made in calming a child. Compare Finnish laulaa (“to sing”) and Hiligaynon lala (“to sing a lullaby”).
Cognate with Scots lul, lule, loll (“to lull, put to sleep, howl, caterwaul”), Dutch lollen (“to sing badly, caterwaul”), Dutch lullen (“to chatter, prate, cheat, deceive”), Low German lullen (“to lull”), German lullen (“to lull”), Danish lulle (“to lull, sing to sleep”), Swedish lulla (“to lull”), Icelandic lúlla (“to lull”).

onomatopoeic

expressive

cog

It is advisable to leave the surf zone during the lull between sets of larger waves, waiting outside the surf zone for a lull.

1992, John Warlaumont, The Noaa Diving Manual, page 19-19:

About 2 hours in, a long lull cleared everyone out, and then it started getting a little more consistent and pushing chest ta neck high.

(surfing) An extended pause between sets of waves.

зати́шье

an extended pause between sets of waves.


leash

From Middle English leesshe, leysche, lesshe, a variant of more original lease, from Middle English lees, leese, leece, lese, from Old French lesse (modern French laisse), from Latin laxa (“thong, a loose cord”), feminine form of laxus (“loose”); compare lax. Doublet of laisse.

Probably the idea was around before that, but the first photo of the leash in action was published that year

1980 February, Drew Kampion, “As Years Roll By (1970's Retrospective”, in Surfing, page 43:


pearl

en-verb

pearl (third-person singular simple present pearls, present participle pearling, simple past and past participle pearled)

pearls (present singular third-person)
pearling (participle present)
pearled (participle past)
pearled (past)

Horace
Jean Jannon
New Testament
Vergil
en:pearl
en:pearl (disambiguation)
en:pearl (typography)

From Middle English perle, from Old French perle of uncertain etymology. Probably via unattested Medieval Latin *pernula, from Latin perna (“haunch; a marine bivalve shaped like a leg of lamb”) but also derived from Medieval Latin perla, from Latin perula (“little bag”). Its typographic use follows the name given by Jean Jannon to the type used in his miniature editions of Vergil, Horace, & the New Testament in the 1620s, which were the smallest printed works to his time. Its surfing use derives from the supposed resemblance to pearl diving.

der

Used a pointed tip today and learned why I kept pearling with my round tipped board. Round noses like to dig into the water, causing frustrating wipeouts.

1999, Joanne VanMeter https://web.archive.org/web/20071027111258/http://www.letsplay.net/archive99/020399.shtml

(intransitive, surfing) To sink the nose of one's surfboard into the water, often on takeoff.

He couldn't even turn the board or raise the nose. Consequently, the board pearled, nose-dived into the water, throwing Lee off almost like being thrown from a horse. But he persisted.

2017, Jian, Sh-Boom: The Way of the World:

(intransitive, surfing) Of the nose of the surfboard: to sink in this manner.


shred

en-verb

shred (third-person singular simple present shreds, present participle shredding, simple past shredded, past participle shredded or shred)

shreds (present singular third-person)
shredding (participle present)
shredded (past)
shredded (participle past)
shred (participle past)
shred (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Middle English shreden, shred (“to chop, cut up; to cut, hack; to wound with a knife; to cut off a part of (something); to prune, trim”) [and other forms], from Old English sċrēadian (“to cut up, shred; to cut off; to prune, trim”), from Proto-West Germanic *skraudōn, related to Proto-West Germanic *skraudan (“to cut up; to shred”), from Proto-Germanic *skraudaną (“to cut up; to shred”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”).
The adjective is derived from the past participle form of the verb.

nb...

schred, schredde, schrede, screde, shreade, shrede, shredde, shrid, (Early Middle English) screda, scradien, (Ormulum) shrædenn

inh

(snowboarding, surfing) To cut through (snow, water, etc.) swiftly with one's snowboard, surfboard, etc.; (by extension) to move or ride along (a road, track, etc.) aggressively and rapidly.

(snowboarding, surfing, etc.) To travel swiftly using a snowboard, surfboard, or vehicle.


booger

Watch the local boogers charge it!

(surfing, slang, mildly derogatory) A bodyboarder.


surfer

→ Japanese: サーファー (sāfā)

Melanitta perspicillata
Melanitta perspicillata#Translingual

(obsolete) A duck, the surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata).


surfer

surfer (infinitive)
avoir + past participle (infinitive multiword-construction)
surfant (gerund participle present)
ayant + past participle (gerund multiword-construction participle present)
surfé (participle past)
surfe (first-person indicative present singular)
surfes (indicative present second-person singular)
surfe (indicative present singular third-person)
surfons (first-person indicative plural present)
surfez (indicative plural present second-person)
surfent (indicative plural present third-person)
surfais (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
surfais (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
surfait (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
surfions (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
surfiez (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
surfaient (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
surfai (first-person historic indicative past singular)
surfas (historic indicative past second-person singular)
surfa (historic indicative past singular third-person)
surfâmes (first-person historic indicative past plural)
surfâtes (historic indicative past plural second-person)
surfèrent (historic indicative past plural third-person)
surferai (first-person future indicative singular)
surferas (future indicative second-person singular)
surfera (future indicative singular third-person)
surferons (first-person future indicative plural)
surferez (future indicative plural second-person)
surferont (future indicative plural third-person)
surferais (conditional first-person singular)
surferais (conditional second-person singular)
surferait (conditional singular third-person)
surferions (conditional first-person plural)
surferiez (conditional plural second-person)
surferaient (conditional plural third-person)
future of avoir + past participle (future indicative multiword-construction perfect)
conditional of avoir + past participle (conditional multiword-construction perfect)
surfe (first-person present singular subjunctive)
surfes (present second-person singular subjunctive)
surfe (present singular subjunctive third-person)
surfions (first-person plural present subjunctive)
surfiez (plural present second-person subjunctive)
surfent (plural present subjunctive third-person)
surfasse (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
surfasses (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
surfât (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
surfassions (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
surfassiez (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
surfassent (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
surfe (imperative second-person singular)
surfons (first-person imperative plural)
surfez (imperative plural second-person)


surfer

pl-noun

surfer m pers (female equivalent surferka)

surferka (feminine)
surfer (nominative singular)
surferzy (nominative plural)
surfery (derogatory nominative plural)
surfera (genitive singular)
surferów (genitive plural)
surferowi (dative singular)
surferom (dative plural)
surfera (accusative singular)
surferów (accusative plural)
surferem (instrumental singular)
surferami (instrumental plural)
surferze (locative singular)
surferach (locative plural)
surferze (singular vocative)
surferzy (plural vocative)

Unadapted borrowing from English surfer.

(surfing) surfer (person who rides a surfboard)


surfboard

→ Japanese: サーフボード (sāfubōdo)

→ Korean: 서프보드 (seopeubodeu)

/ˈsɜːfˌbɔːd/

Two sharks attacked the surfboard.

A shaped waterproof plank, usually made of wood or foam and reinforced plastic, used to surf on waves.

branderplank

a shaped waterproof plank used to surf on waves


surf

en-noun

surf (countable and uncountable, plural surfs)

1680s, perhaps from earlier suffe (c. 1590), possibly related to sough, or possibly of Indo-Aryan origin, as the word was formerly a reference to the coast of India.
The verb is from 1917.
The verb referring to "browsing the Internet" was popularized by Jean Armour Polly.

[…] 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 […]

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

'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.

[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:

It was alone, nervously alighting and flying short distances along the surf.

1900, Joseph Grinnell, Birds of the Kotzebue Sound Region, Alaska, page 12:

In most instances the inshore holes or pockets along the surf do not produce as well as the cuts or sloughs between sand bars.

1941, Raymond Russell Camp, Fishing the Surf, page 248:

Snook are found in rivers, canals, inlets and along the surf, especially around sand bars, tidal rips, jetties, bridges and piers.

1963, Vlad Evanoff, Spin Fishing, page 181:

She [...] loves to cook, sew and dance. She's up on all the latest steps like the frug, the hully-gully and the surf.

1964 July 15, The Australian, Sydney, page 20, column 3:

A dance popular in the 1960s in which the movements of a surfboard rider are mimicked.


surf

en-verb

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

surfs (present singular third-person)
surfing (participle present)
surfed (participle past)
surfed (past)

To ride a wave on a surfboard; to pursue or take part in the sport of surfing.

(transitive, intransitive) To browse the Internet, television, etc.


surf rider

(obsolete) One who rides the surf usually on a surfboard; a surfer


surfing

en-noun

surfing (usually uncountable, plural surfings)

→ Japanese: サーフィン (sāfin)

→ Korean: 서핑 (seoping)

To J. M. Duffin, former student and now assistant archivist at the University of Pennsylvania, thanks for courteous surfings of the Internet for missing dates, publishers, and other embarrassing gaps in my text.

(Internet) The activity of browsing the Internet.


surfing

surfing (nominative singular)
surfingu (genitive singular)
surfingowi (dative singular)
surfing (accusative singular)
surfingiem (instrumental singular)
surfingu (locative singular)
surfingu (singular vocative)

Unadapted borrowing from English surfing.


mush

en-noun

mush (countable and uncountable, plural mushes)

Audio (UK)

Audio (US)

Probably a variant of mash, or from a dialectal variant of Middle English mos (“mush, pulp, porridge”); compare Middle English appelmos (“applesauce”), from Old English mōs (“food, victuals, porridge, mush”), from Proto-West Germanic *mōs, from Proto-Germanic *mōsą (“porridge, food”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“wet, fat, dripping”).
Cognate with Scots moosh (“mush”), Dutch moes (“pulp, mush, porridge”), German Mus (“jam, puree, mush”), Swedish mos (“pulp, mash, mush”).

der

And Rincon was all about surfing. Flash back thirty-odd years, to a skinny kid on a Styrofoam belly-board, pin-wheeling out into the mush of Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

2008, Bucky McMahon, Night Diver, page 80:


shoulder

From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sculdra, sculdor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”) (West Frisian skouder (“shoulder”)), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Low German Schuller (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).

inh

you can't put an old head on young shoulders

(surfing) The part of a wave that has not yet broken.


concave

From Middle English concave, from Old French concave, from Latin concavus.

(surfing) An indentation running along the base of a surfboard, intended to increase lift.


Pali

(surfing, slang) The Pacific Palisades coast.


wipe out

en-verb

wipe out (third-person singular simple present wipes out, present participle wiping out, simple past and past participle wiped out)

wipes out (present singular third-person)
wiping out (participle present)
wiped out (participle past)
wiped out (past)

A massive wave wiped him out.

(surfing, transitive) To knock (a surfer) off their board.


kahuna

Borrowed from Hawaiian kahuna (“shaman, wizard”).


amok

Borrowed from English amok, from Portuguese amouco, from Malay amuk (“to go on a killing spree”). Displaced amog.


amok

a surf; waves that break on an ocean shoreline


hodad

Originally Californian surfer slang from the 1960s. Perhaps from the greeting Ho! Dad, though no evidence for this derivation is known. The suggestion that it derives from Western Hemisphere Spanish jodido (“fucked, difficult, annoying”) similarly lacks evidence; also the vowel change from -did to -dad is unexplained.

der

(surfing, slang, derogatory) Someone who comes to the beach and has a surfboard, but never surfs, or that surfs poorly and annoys the local seasoned surfers.


green room

First appears c. 1701 in the writings of Colley Cibber.

Never quite got covered up, but stood in the doorway to the green room with the lip feathering over my shoulders several times

1996, Surfer Bob, archived from the original on 2005-12-30:

(surfing) The inside of a tube (cylindrical wave).


tanker

I swung the tanker around just in time to take off with the lip.


backhander

From backhand + -er (patient suffix) or -er (agent noun suffix).

The morning brought an increased swell; long, perfect, down-the-line, 6-8' freight trains — a forehander's dream and a backhander's nightmare

(surfing) A surfer who approaches a swell with the wave behind them ("on their backhand") rather than facing the wave ("on their forehand").


backhand

(surfing) The hand towards the back of the board.


kook

(surfing, kiteboarding, wakeboarding) A boardsport participant who lacks style or skill; a newbie who acts as if they are better at the sport than they are.


bail out

en-verb

bail out (third-person singular simple present bails out, present participle bailing out, simple past and past participle bailed out)

bails out (present singular third-person)
bailing out (participle present)
bailed out (participle past)
bailed out (past)

(intransitive, idiomatic, surfing) To abandon one's surfboard when faced with a large or perilous wave.


peeler

From Middle English peler, piller, pyllare, pilour, pelure, pelour, equivalent to peel + -er.

Fancy a wave, one of those little peelers?

2010, Sam Bleakley, Surfing Brilliant Corners, →ISBN, page 174:

If he could ride a trend as well as he could ride a First Point Malibu peeler—well, that's how the game was played.

2011, Matt Warshaw, The History of Surfing, →ISBN, page 465:

As the next five-foot peeler rolled by, Lee grasped his board and clenched his teeth.

2016, William Povletich, Some Like It Cold: Surfing the Malibu of the Midwest, →ISBN:


pipeline

→ Japanese: パイプライン (paipurain)

→ Korean: 파이프라인 (paipeurain)

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(surfing) The inside of a wave that a surfer is riding, when the wave has started closing over it.


cuttie

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cut in

cut in (third-person singular simple present cuts in, present participle cutting in, simple past and past participle cut in)

cuts in (present singular third-person)
cutting in (participle present)
cut in (participle past)
cut in (past)

(surfing) To begin riding a wave in front of someone else whose legitimate turn it is.


grommet

From obsolete French gromette (“curb chain”) (modern spelling gourmette).

(slang, surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding) A young or inexperienced surfer, skateboarder, or snowboarder.


scoop

From Middle English scope, schoupe, a borrowing from Middle Dutch scoep, scuep, schope, schoepe (“bucket for bailing water”) and Middle Dutch schoppe, scoppe, schuppe ("a scoop, shovel"; > Modern Dutch schop (“spade”)), from Proto-Germanic *skuppǭ, *skuppijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep- (“to cut, to scrape, to hack”). Cognate with Old Frisian skuppe (“shovel”), Middle Low German schōpe (“scoop, shovel”), German Low German Schüppe, Schüpp (“shovel”), German Schüppe, Schippe (“shovel, spade”). Related to English shovel.

gloss

"a scoop, shovel"; > Modern Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">schop</i> (“spade”)

cog

This brings the scoop into play as additional wetted surface and slows the board due to its fore-and-aft curvature

1965, John M. Kelly, Surf and Sea, page 116:

[T]he scoop or upward curvature in the front or nose section of a board is designed to keep the board from diving under the surface of the water when the surfer is catching a wave.

1977, Fred Hemmings, Surfing: Hawaii's Gift to the World of Sports, page 59:

(surfing) The raised end of a surfboard.


reo

(Australia, surfing, informal) A re-entry (climbing a wave and then returning down its face).


pullout

en-noun

pullout (countable and uncountable, plural pullouts)

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Here's a pretty strange pullout. An "El Rollo." When Corky does something strange, everyone for 50 yards knows all about it.

1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:

Most pullouts, then and today, are done by simply angling or pivoting the board up and over the wave crest.

2005, Matt Warshaw, The Encyclopedia of Surfing, page 482:

[…] Machado, who turns what might seem like a handicap, that lankiness, to rubbery advantage in his sinuous carving and slackly cool pullouts.

2015, John Engle, Surfing in the Movies: A Critical History, page 131:

(surfing) The ending of a period of surfing by navigating the surfboard into or over the back of a wave.


floater

From float + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

kelluja

person who physically floats in a gas or liquid

paikanvaihtaja

person without a fixed or lasting affiliation, position, or role

kelluva esine

thing which physically floats in a gas or liquid

leijuri

(figurative) A thing which moves from place to place, as if floating.

(surfing) A manoeuvre in which a surfer transitions above the unbroken face of a wave on to the lip, or on top of the breaking section of the wave.


landlord

From Middle English londlord, landlorde, from Old English landhlāford, equivalent to land + lord. Cognate with Scots landlaird, Middle Low German lantlord (“homeowner, landlord”).

cog

the lurking presence of “The Landlord”

2004, Drew Kampion, publisher's blurb for, Stories from the Surf – The Lost Coast:

(surfing, slang, with "the") A shark, imagined as the owner of the surf to be avoided.


back door

en-verb

back door (third-person singular simple present back doors, present participle back dooring, simple past and past participle back doored)

back doors (present singular third-person)
back dooring (participle present)
back doored (participle past)
back doored (past)

If you survive the heavy take-off at 'The Chair' (which is very close to the rocks) you will find you're in 'The Suck-up', which offers either a spectacular barrel or a bonecrunching wipeout, but you might find you have to back door it.

1999, Mark Warren, Mark Warren's Atlas of Australian Surfing, traveller's, →ISBN, page 103:

(surfing) To enter a tube by accelerating from behind; to surf into an already formed hollow wave, in contrast to the normal method of slowing to allow a surfable wave to form.


stringer

(surfing) Wooden strip running lengthwise down the centre of a surfboard, for strength.


ollie

From Ollie. Named after American skateboarder Alan Gelfand (1963–), via the Floridian skateboarder's nickname.

named-after

In short tutorials, the player learns the basics of skating: reverts, manuals and the ollie […]

2007, Friedrich von Borries, Steffen P. Walz, Matthias Böttger, Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism, page 124:

(skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding) An aerial maneuver in which one catches air by leaping off the ground with the skateboard and into the air.


skeg

From a dialectal term for a stump, branch, or wooden peg; compare Swedish skog. Compare also shaw.

(Australia, slang) A surfer; a person who leads a surfing lifestyle.


pintail

(surfing) A surfboard with a pointed back end.


dumper

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The choice of a dumper can be disastrous for a comparatively unskilled surfer […]

1959, John Bloomfield, Know-how in the Surf, page 28:

[…] learning how to slide across the face of a wave is put to practical use when inadvertently catching a dumper (plunging wave).

2004, Australian Mathematical Society, Gazette, volume 31, page 249:

(surfing) A wave that knocks a surfer into the water.


shaper

From Middle English shapper, shapere, schapare, scaper, scheppere, schuppere, alteration (perhaps due to Old Norse skaperi, skapari) of Old English sċyppend, sċieppend (“shaper; maker; creator”), equivalent to shape + -er. Cognate with Dutch schepper, German Schöpfer, Danish skaber, Swedish skapare, Icelandic skapari.

en:person who designs and builds surfboards

(agent noun) Any agent that shapes (something), whether literally or figuratively.

(surfing) A person who designs and builds surfboards.


glasser

The glasser wraps the board in a thin, brittle layer of fiberglass and resin

1999 January 16, Surfer Magazine, archived from the original on 2005-09-30:

(surfing) A person who applies fibreglass and resin to a surfboard during its manufacture.


rocker

From Middle English rokker, rockere, rokkere, equivalent to rock + -er.

All modern surfboards share a similar rocker design — Bruce Jones https://web.archive.org/web/20051212041317/http://www.brucejones.com/longboar.htm

(surfing) The lengthwise curvature of a surfboard. (More rocker is a more curved board.)


longboard

In the past three weeks on Victoria's Surfcoast I've ridden my longboard probably 90% of the time as well. — Coastalwatch.com.au http://www.coastalwatch.com.au/news/news.aspx?newsId=55&newsType=admin&adType=news

(surfing) A large surfboard, around 9 or 10 feet long with a wide nose.


longboarding

The recreation or sport of surfing with a longboard.


Huey

en-proper noun

Huey (countable and uncountable, plural Hueys)

The spilt milk would be offered as a gift to Surf God Huey who would surely reward our kindness with sick waves. — surfingnz.com, Road Trip #6

(uncountable, surfing) Imaginary god who creates surf (waves, and associated conditions), generally used humorously.


goat boat

en-verb

goat boat (third-person singular simple present goat boats, present participle goat boating, simple past and past participle goat boated)

goat boats (present singular third-person)
goat boating (participle present)
goat boated (participle past)
goat boated (past)

Do us surfers a favour please and goat boat at Nobblers or Sumpters - please. — BBC Cable Bay message forum https://web.archive.org/web/20040207131935/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/surfing/pages/cablebay.shtml

(surfing, mildly derogatory) to ride a wave ski.


drop in

drop in (third-person singular simple present drops in, present participle dropping in, simple past and past participle dropped in)

drops in (present singular third-person)
dropping in (participle present)
dropped in (participle past)
dropped in (past)

Most beginners are blissfully unaware that dropping in on someone is a cardinal sin.

2003, Neal Miyake, “The Unwritten Rules of Surfing”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 2005-10-14:

(surfing, intransitive) To paddle into and take off on a wave another surfer is already riding.


duck dive

duck dive (third-person singular simple present duck dives, present participle duck diving, simple past and past participle duck dived)

duck dives (present singular third-person)
duck diving (participle present)
duck dived (participle past)
duck dived (past)

From the way a duck puts its head down and bottom up in the air when diving underwater.

(surfing) To push one's surfboard (usually a shortboard) underwater nose-first, to get the surfer and board under a wave that has broken or is just about to break.


duck dive

(surfing) The action of duck diving (see verb).


turn turtle

turn turtle (third-person singular simple present turns turtle, present participle turning turtle, simple past and past participle turned turtle)

turns turtle (present singular third-person)
turning turtle (participle present)
turned turtle (participle past)
turned turtle (past)

/ˈtɜːn ˈtɜːtəl/

Possibly from the fact that turning a turtle and placing it on its back renders it helpless.

As you encounter waves on the way out, you have five ways of getting past them: […] Turn turtle. Turn upside down and hang onto the rails (i.e., the edges) near the nose of the board, pulling it downward, so that the oncoming wave pushes on this slanted shield, forcing you and the forward part of the board downward[…].

2009, Robert “Wingnut” Weaver, with Scott Bannerot, “Getting Started: A Complete Mini-primer”, in Wingnut’s Complete Surfing, Camden, Me., New York, N.Y.: International Marine; McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 23:

(intransitive, surfing) To roll upside down with one's surfboard (usually a longboard) to allow a wave, especially a wave that has already broken, to pass over.


wind swell

Ground swell is sometimes defined as having a period (the average time between the crests of two consecutive waves) of more than 15 seconds, while a locally generated wind swell can be defined as having a period of 11 seconds or less.

2005, Matt Warshaw, The Encyclopedia of Surfing, page 239:

(surfing) Waves generated by local winds.


victory at sea

Reputed to refer to the wind-blown rolling seas in the movie and television series Victory at Sea.

It is total "Victory at Sea" out there today- 17 to 25 knot onshore winds kicking up big. messy windswell/chop everywhere.

1995, Tom Tweed, “1/5/95 sd cali. surf 7-8' onshore slop”, in alt.surfing (Usenet):

It is extremely fast and comfortable to ride in 2 foot chop like we had in the ocean today. It will still run near 60 in that "victory at sea" if one can hang on.

1998, Jim Shuck, “Watercraft World Recap”, in rec.sport.jetski (Usenet):

2004, Vans Triple Crown press release 11.16.2004 https://web.archive.org/web/20060321040308/http://www.transworldsurf.com/surf/competition/article/0,19929,783378,00.html
A diminishing swell Saturday led officials to call for a lay day, then a strong on-shore storm system moved through overnight leaving victory at sea conditions yesterday.

It's not Maui, but wind swell becoming Victory At Sea conditions on the outside as it goes 4.2.

2005, Glenn Woodell, “Omaezaki?”, in rec.windsurfing (Usenet):

HIGH SURF AND DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS CONTINUE TODAY WITH VICTORY AT SEA CONDITIONS. SOME BEACH EROSION HAS LIKELY OCCURRED OVER IN THE PANHANDLE.

2011, National Weather Service, Area Forecast Discussion Tallahassee FL 11:28 AM EDT Mon Sep 5 2011:

(idiomatic) Ocean conditions that are very windblown and messy, possibly to the point of being inimical to surfing and other watersports.


kook cord

As recently as 1971, surf leashes were called "kook cords" by a surfing world that grew up thinking that a surfer must pay for his mistakes by swimming.

2000, Ben Marcus, surfline.com http://www.surfline.com/surfaz/surfaz.cfm?id=921


pope's living room

From the tube (i.e. tubular wave) being a highly desirable place and imagining the Pope has the privilege of going there or being there all the time.

It was the layback, a casual declaration of civil disobedience in the pope's living room, our own aquatic limbo act.

2001, Jason Borte, surfline.com http://www.surfline.com/surfaz/surfaz.cfm?id=847

(surfing slang) The inside of a tube (i.e. of a wave making a tube).


beach break

(surfing, slang) The place where waves break, at a beach (as distinguished from other types of breaks).


tail pad

And it's cheap—a bar of wax usually costs around $1.00 and will last for weeks (depending on how often you surf), whereas a tail pad (the cheapest deck grip you can buy) costs around $30.

2009, Louise Southerden, Surf's Up: The Girl's Guide to Surfing:

(surfing) A deck grip pad at the rear (ie. tail) of a surfboard, for the surfer's back foot to stand on.


deck grip

(surfing) Rubber non-slip pads glued to the top of a surfboard to stand on.


cutback

en-noun

cutback (countable and uncountable, plural cutbacks)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-cutback.wav

The cutback is one of the sport's three fundamental turns, along with the bottom turn and top turn. "It's the purest power move in the book," Australian surf journalist Nick Carroll wrote in 2000.

2005, Matt Warshaw, The Encyclopedia of Surfing, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 146:

(surfing) Maneuver where the surfer turns and surfs back towards where the wave is breaking.


twinnie

The twin-fin or “twinnie” is probably the most popular new surfboard of the last few years. Twinnies have short, wide tails and two big fins. They combine the fast turning of a shortboard with the wave catching of a longboard.


closeout

Dealing with closeouts is something every surfer should learn – especially if you live and surf in California.

2004, Chris Cote, “HOW TO Backside Closeout Snap with Andy Irons - Ending your ride with style and drama.”, in Transworld Surf:

(surfing) A wave which breaks all at once, as opposed to breaking progressively along its length.


close out

en-verb

close out (third-person singular simple present closes out, present participle closing out, simple past and past participle closed out)

closes out (present singular third-person)
closing out (participle present)
closed out (participle past)
closed out (past)

You either want to land on the top of the wave (if it has closed out), or in the transition

2005, 'Pete Devries, Surfing Vancouver Island:

(surfing) Of a wave, to break all at once, instead of progressively along its length.


hang ten

hang ten (third-person singular simple present hangs ten, present participle hanging ten, simple past and past participle hung ten)

hangs ten (present singular third-person)
hanging ten (participle present)
hung ten (participle past)
hung ten (past)

(surfing) To perform a stunt on a longboard in which a surfer moves to the front of the board and rides with ten toes extended out over the nose, after positioning the board so the back of it is covered and held in place by a wave.


hang five

hang five (third-person singular simple present hangs five, present participle hanging five, simple past and past participle hung five)

hangs five (present singular third-person)
hanging five (participle present)
hung five (participle past)
hung five (past)

(surfing) To perform a longboard move where the surfer goes to the front of the board and rides from there, one foot on the nose and the five toes of that foot extended out over the front of the nose, the other foot placed further back.


cheater five

(surfing) A form of hang five move, but where the surfer keeps their body and their weight well back from the front of the board and just reaches out with one leg to get five toes over the nose (as opposed to standing properly at the front).


coffin ride

(surfing) A longboard move where the surfer lies down on their back on the board with hands folded across their chest as if in a coffin, and continues down the line in that pose.


kooky

en-adj

kooky (comparative kookier, superlative kookiest)

kookier (comparative)
kookiest (superlative)

From Kook to Classic A new appreciation for the grace (and glory) of longboardsmanship changed the image of longboarding from kooky to classic. Longboarding became a class-act and the classic essence of the surfing lifestyle.

1996, Doug Werner, Longboarder's Start-up: A Guide to Longboard Surfing (Start-up Sports; #6), San Diego, Calif.: Tracks Publishing, →ISBN, page 10:

I realized that the strain of the aloha spirit that surfing was bringing out in me was extremely aggressive. […] In my third week I had a revelation. I returned to Seal Beach, where Kim was still in school with the Michaels, and paddled straight out to the pier. I looked around and realized that the lineup was all kooks. In fact, I was the least kooky. I couldn't believe it. Where was the gang?

2010, Peter Heller, Kook: What Surfing Taught Me about Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave, New York, N.Y.: Free Press, →ISBN:

(surfing) Behaving like a kook (a person with poor style or skill); kook-like.


thruster

From thrust + -er. The surfboard sense was coined (but never trademarked) by Simon Anderson, who created the design in 1980. The name was almost immediately applied generically to any surfboard with that fin design.

(surfing) A surfboard (usually a shortboard) with three fins of approximately equal size, one centred at the back, one on each side about 25cm forward and out near the rails.


tombstone

en-verb

tombstone (third-person singular simple present tombstones, present participle tombstoning, simple past and past participle tombstoned)

tombstones (present singular third-person)
tombstoning (participle present)
tombstoned (participle past)
tombstoned (past)

Before the contest even started, Slater went down hard in a warmup session. He took a two-wave hold-down in the semifinals, his board tombstoning eerily for all to see, […]

2005, Bruce Jenkins, Surfer magazine, (referring to Kelly Slater) http://surfermag.com/features/events/mav05/

(surfing) For a surfboard to stand upright half-submerged in the water (like a tombstone, above) because the surfer is underwater with his or her legrope pulled tight. Often this indicates a surfer in difficulty, either held down by the power of a wave or unconscious and unable to get to the surface.


reef rash

en-noun

reef rash (countable and uncountable, plural reef rashes)

Even mild cases of reef rash can be worrisome, as any break in the skin while in the tropics can lead to a staph infection.

2005, Matt Warshaw, The Encyclopedia of Surfing, page 498:

(surfing) A scraping injury caused by falling on or being dragged over a reef.


greenback

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When the surfer has passed the point where the waves are breaking, and is among the waves which are known as “greenbacks”, he may either dive through them or float over them, […]

1965, John Bloomfield, Know-how in the Surf, page 28:

(surfing) A wave that has not yet begun to break.


Maccas

(surfing, slang) "Macaronis", a surf break in Mentawai Islands Regency, West Sumatra, Indonesia.


gremlin

Oxford English Dictionary
Roald Dahl
The Gremlins

Uncertain; the following etymologies have been suggested:
* A variant of goblin.
* From Irish gruaimín (“gloomy little person”); or from Dutch gremmelen (“to soil, stain; to spoil”), or griemelen, grimmelen (“(obsolete) to abound, teem; to swarm”), but according to the Oxford English Dictionary there is little evidence for such derivations.
The word was popularized, especially in the United States, by the children’s novel The Gremlins (1943) by the British author Roald Dahl (1916–1990), in which gremlins sabotage Royal Air Force aircraft in revenge for the destruction of their forest home to make way for an aircraft factory; the creatures later join forces with the British to fight the Nazis.

der

(surfing, skateboarding, slang) A young, inexperienced surfer or skateboarder, regarded as a nuisance.

keltanokka

young, inexperienced surfer, seen as being a nuisance


glassy

en-adj

glassy (comparative glassier, superlative glassiest)

glassier (comparative)
glassiest (superlative)

From Middle English glasy, equivalent to glass + -y. Compare Saterland Frisian glääsich (“glassy”), Dutch glazig (“glassy”), German Low German glasig (“glassy”), German glasig (“glassy”).

a fair day on a glassy sea

Of or like glass, especially in being smooth and somewhat reflective.

(sailing, surfing, of water, not comparable) Lacking any chop; smooth and mostly flat.


Eddie would go

Named after Hawaiian waterman Eddie Aikau (1946–1978).

named-after

Just imagine what it must feel like to make it out of one of those Teahupoo tubes? ¶ *THAT'S* why we continue our quest and challenge. ¶ Eddie would go. ¶ (and we're right behind you Eddie)

2000 April 27, m@rk, “Re: Whats it worth?”, in alt.surfing (Usenet):

We'd bodysurf Pounders, north shore areas, Pupukea... I remember dolphins ( or would that be porpoises?) alongside us in most every wave, which would many times drop us onto the sand with a thud, knocking the wind outa us! Then, like the hardy keiki o ka aina buggahs we were, go right back in for more punishment! Eddie would go, and so, to an extent would us keiki!

2000 August 16, Alkahuna Kekaula Kamauoha, “Re: Screened Lanais/Porches?”, in soc.culture.hawaii (Usenet):

While they debated over the safety of the surfers, big-wave maverick Mark Foo looked out into the maelstrom of waves and whitewater and nonchalantly told one cameraman, “Eddie would go.” The saying stuck, and it eventually became popular in the Islands and in the international board-riding community.

[2002, Stuart Holmes Coleman, Eddie Would Go: The Story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero and Pioneer of Big Wave Surfing, New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 255:

I guess we could've easily called it a day and left, but when you drive an hour to surf, you gotta go. Eddie would go, right? OK, maybe not in waist-high slop with fifty-degree air and water temps, but, I mean, like, if he were a NH surfer, he would go, wouldn't he?

2002 June 16, Atticus Fisher, “Surf Report: Finding Gems In Shit”, in alt.surfing (Usenet):

(Hawaii, surfing) Said of challenging surfing conditions, often as an encouragement.


waterman

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From Middle English waterman, equivalent to water + -man.

(surfing) A man skilled in multiple aquatic sports disciplines, such as surfing, bodysurfing, undersea diving, canoe paddling, fishing, etc.


bombora

From Australian Aboriginal, most likely Dharug bumbora (“a current off Dobroyd Head, Port Jackson”).

bor

The superior local knowledge of the Easter Island boatmen was a distracting influence, but on the way in I had decided to anchor on the sandy patch close under the bombora.

1963, Patrick Gordon Taylor, The Sky Beyond, page 269:

The remainder of my life was indoor stuff […] but even from school I could see the bomboras breaking way out to sea on a high swell, there at the corner of my eye.

1993, Tim Winton, Land's Edge, Picador, published 2014, page 10:

It took Sue Dockar a good half hour to swim out to her target bombora, a moderate swim in spearfishing terms.

2008, Yvette Allum, The Lonely Sea, unnumbered page:

He was also considered to be one of Australia's best big-wave riders, tackling the Queenscliff and Bare Island bomboras on the very biggest days.

2012, Phil Jarratt, Australia's Hottest 100 Surfing Legends, unnumbered page:

(Australia) A shallow isolated piece of reef located a distance offshore.


dawn patrol

en-noun

dawn patrol (countable and uncountable, plural dawn patrols)

(surfing) The act of going out for a surf at dawn.

(surfing) The surfers who go out to surf at dawn.


forehand

(surfing) The hand towards the front of the board.


grom

They were having this contest for grommets. The waves were micro. Even the groms were disgusted.

(surfing, snowboarding, skimboarding, slang) A young surfer, wakeskater, wakeboarder, snowboarder, skimboarder, skateboarder, or kiteboarder.


nuch

(surfing, slang, dated) Not much, hardly, barely, to an insignificant degree.


nuch

Dude! Sup? - Nuch.

(surfing, slang, dated) A response to the greeting/question What's up?


re-entry

re-entry (countable and uncountable, plural re-entries)

(surfing) A trick involving climbing a wave and then returning back down its face.


lana

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *laña.

inh+

wave that looks like a thin film of oil on the surface


wahine

Borrowed from Maori and Hawaiian wahine (“woman”), from Proto-Polynesian *fafine.


windsurfing

cs-noun

windsurfing m inan (relational adjective windsurfingový)

windsurfingový (adjective relational)
windsurfing (nominative singular)
windsurfingy (nominative plural)
windsurfingu (genitive singular)
windsurfingů (genitive plural)
windsurfingu (dative singular)
windsurfingům (dative plural)
windsurfing (accusative singular)
windsurfingy (accusative plural)
windsurfingu (singular vocative)
windsurfingy (plural vocative)
windsurfingu (locative singular)
windsurfinzích (locative plural)
windsurfingem (instrumental singular)
windsurfingy (instrumental plural)

Unadapted borrowing from English windsurfing.


windsurfing

windsurfing (nominative singular)
windsurfingu (genitive singular)
windsurfingowi (dative singular)
windsurfing (accusative singular)
windsurfingiem (instrumental singular)
windsurfingu (locative singular)
windsurfingu (singular vocative)


surfari

/sɜː(ɹ)ˈfɑːɹi/

We'll all be gone for the summer. We're on surfari to stay. Tell the teacher we're surfin', surfin' U.S.A.

1963, Brian Wilson (lyrics and music), “Surfin' U.S.A.”, in Surfin' U.S.A., performed by Beach Boys:


screamer

That set the pattern for us both. Catch a screamer, work it hard for as long as you could, then drop back over the shoulder and paddle back out to the line-up.


prone out

en-verb

prone out (third-person singular simple present prones out, present participle proning out, simple past and past participle proned out)

prones out (present singular third-person)
proning out (participle present)
proned out (participle past)
proned out (past)

I proned out in the white water, letting the wave break over me inside, riding the white water into the deep channel.

2012, Ted Gugelyk, Mango Lady & Other Stories from Hawaii:

(intransitive, surfing) To lie flat on one's board (face down) in order to be propelled shorewards by a broken wave.


leg rope

Laird Hamilton considers the leg rope the single most dangerous thing involved when surfing waves over 20 feet.

2011, Douglas Booth, Surfing: The Ultimate Guide, page 102:

(surfing) A cord tied to the surfboard (usually near the tail) and attached to the surfer's leg.


ice cream headache

en-noun

ice cream headache (plural ice cream headaches)

In my wilder days as a winter surfer we all knew about the sickening frontal headache that resulted within seconds of driving through a breaking wave. The pain continued for 20 to 30 seconds, only to be reinforced by the next breaking wave. Even then (35 years ago) we always referred to the pain as the ice cream headache.

Harris, Mark (1997 September 6) “Cerebral vasoconstriction causing decrease in arterial flow may have role”, in Ice cream headache, volume 315, number 609

A type of headache caused by cold around the brain, either at the back of the throat when eating ice cream (as the name suggests), or from cold around the outside of the head.


shoulder surfing

shoulder surfing (computer security)
shoulder surfing (surfing)

(surfing) a technique in surfing requiring less skill, riding the wave lower down than its critical point


kitesurfing

A type of kiteboarding that happens in the water, where the rider is on a surfboard and is propelled by a power kite.


kitesurfing

kitesurfing (nominative singular)
kitesurfingu (genitive singular)
kitesurfingowi (dative singular)
kitesurfing (accusative singular)
kitesurfingiem (instrumental singular)
kitesurfingu (locative singular)
kitesurfingu (singular vocative)

Unadapted borrowing from English kitesurfing.


kitesurf

en-verb

kitesurf (third-person singular simple present kitesurfs, present participle kitesurfing, simple past and past participle kitesurfed)

kitesurfs (present singular third-person)
kitesurfing (participle present)
kitesurfed (participle past)
kitesurfed (past)

(intransitive) To take part in kitesurfing.


kiteboard

A specialized lightweight wakeboard used for kiteboarding.


kiteboard

kiteboard (third-person singular simple present kiteboards, present participle kiteboarding, simple past and past participle kiteboarded)

kiteboards (present singular third-person)
kiteboarding (participle present)
kiteboarded (participle past)
kiteboarded (past)

(intransitive) to participate in kiteboarding


kiteboarding

A sport in which participants ride a form of wakeboard or surfboard harnessed to a large kite which is controlled by the rider.


surfear

es-verb

surfear (first-person singular present surfeo, first-person singular preterite surfeé, past participle surfeado)

surfeo (first-person present singular)
surfeé (first-person preterite singular)
surfeado (participle past)
surfear (infinitive)
surfeando (gerund)
surfeado (masculine participle past singular)
surfeada (feminine participle past singular)
surfeados (masculine participle past plural)
surfeadas (feminine participle past plural)
surfeo (first-person indicative present singular)
surfeas (indicative informal present second-person singular)
surfeás (indicative informal present second-person singular vos-form)
surfea (indicative present singular third-person)
surfeamos (first-person indicative plural present)
surfeáis (indicative plural present second-person)
surfean (indicative plural present third-person)
surfeaba (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
surfeabas (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
surfeaba (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
surfeábamos (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
surfeabais (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
surfeaban (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
surfeé (first-person indicative preterite singular)
surfeaste (indicative preterite second-person singular)
surfeó (indicative preterite singular third-person)
surfeamos (first-person indicative plural preterite)
surfeasteis (indicative plural preterite second-person)
surfearon (indicative plural preterite third-person)
surfearé (first-person future indicative singular)
surfearás (future indicative second-person singular)
surfeará (future indicative singular third-person)
surfearemos (first-person future indicative plural)
surfearéis (future indicative plural second-person)
surfearán (future indicative plural third-person)
surfearía (conditional first-person indicative singular)
surfearías (conditional indicative second-person singular)
surfearía (conditional indicative singular third-person)
surfearíamos (conditional first-person indicative plural)
surfearíais (conditional indicative plural second-person)
surfearían (conditional indicative plural third-person)
surfee (first-person present singular subjunctive)
surfees (informal present second-person singular subjunctive)
surfeés (informal present second-person singular subjunctive vos-form)
surfee (present singular subjunctive third-person)
surfeemos (first-person plural present subjunctive)
surfeéis (plural present second-person subjunctive)
surfeen (plural present subjunctive third-person)
surfeara (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
surfearas (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
surfeara (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
surfeáramos (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
surfearais (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
surfearan (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
surfease (first-person imperfect imperfect-se singular subjunctive)
surfeases (imperfect imperfect-se second-person singular subjunctive)
surfease (imperfect imperfect-se singular subjunctive third-person)
surfeásemos (first-person imperfect imperfect-se plural subjunctive)
surfeaseis (imperfect imperfect-se plural second-person subjunctive)
surfeasen (imperfect imperfect-se plural subjunctive third-person)
surfeare (first-person future singular subjunctive)
surfeares (future second-person singular subjunctive)
surfeare (future singular subjunctive third-person)
surfeáremos (first-person future plural subjunctive)
surfeareis (future plural second-person subjunctive)
surfearen (future plural subjunctive third-person)
surfea (imperative informal second-person singular)
surfeá (imperative informal second-person singular vos-form)
surfee (formal imperative second-person-semantically singular third-person)
surfee (imperative singular third-person)
surfeemos (first-person imperative plural)
surfead (imperative plural second-person)
surfeen (formal imperative plural second-person-semantically third-person)
surfeen (imperative plural third-person)
surfees (imperative negative second-person singular)
surfee (formal imperative negative second-person-semantically singular third-person)
surfee (imperative negative singular third-person)
surfeemos (first-person imperative negative plural)
surfeéis (imperative negative plural second-person)
surfeen (formal imperative negative plural second-person-semantically third-person)
surfeen (imperative negative plural third-person)
surfearme (combined-form dative infinitive object-first-person object-singular)
surfearte (combined-form dative infinitive object-second-person object-singular)
surfearle (combined-form dative infinitive object-singular object-third-person)
surfearse (combined-form dative infinitive object-singular object-third-person)
surfearnos (combined-form dative infinitive object-first-person object-plural)
surfearos (combined-form dative infinitive object-plural object-second-person)
surfearles (combined-form dative infinitive object-plural object-third-person)
surfearse (combined-form dative infinitive object-plural object-third-person)
surfearme (accusative combined-form infinitive object-first-person object-singular)
surfearte (accusative combined-form infinitive object-second-person object-singular)
surfearlo (accusative combined-form infinitive object-singular object-third-person)
surfearla (accusative combined-form infinitive object-singular object-third-person)
surfearse (accusative combined-form infinitive object-singular object-third-person)
surfearnos (accusative combined-form infinitive object-first-person object-plural)
surfearos (accusative combined-form infinitive object-plural object-second-person)
surfearlos (accusative combined-form infinitive object-plural object-third-person)
surfearlas (accusative combined-form infinitive object-plural object-third-person)
surfearse (accusative combined-form infinitive object-plural object-third-person)
surfeándome (combined-form dative gerund object-first-person object-singular)
surfeándote (combined-form dative gerund object-second-person object-singular)
surfeándole (combined-form dative gerund object-singular object-third-person)
surfeándose (combined-form dative gerund object-singular object-third-person)
surfeándonos (combined-form dative gerund object-first-person object-plural)
surfeándoos (combined-form dative gerund object-plural object-second-person)
surfeándoles (combined-form dative gerund object-plural object-third-person)
surfeándose (combined-form dative gerund object-plural object-third-person)
surfeándome (accusative combined-form gerund object-first-person object-singular)
surfeándote (accusative combined-form gerund object-second-person object-singular)
surfeándolo (accusative combined-form gerund object-singular object-third-person)
surfeándola (accusative combined-form gerund object-singular object-third-person)
surfeándose (accusative combined-form gerund object-singular object-third-person)
surfeándonos (accusative combined-form gerund object-first-person object-plural)
surfeándoos (accusative combined-form gerund object-plural object-second-person)
surfeándolos (accusative combined-form gerund object-plural object-third-person)
surfeándolas (accusative combined-form gerund object-plural object-third-person)
surfeándose (accusative combined-form gerund object-plural object-third-person)
surféame (combined-form dative imperative informal object-first-person object-singular second-person singular with-tú)
surféate (combined-form dative imperative informal object-second-person object-singular second-person singular with-tú)
surféale (combined-form dative imperative informal object-singular object-third-person second-person singular with-tú)
surféanos (combined-form dative imperative informal object-first-person object-plural second-person singular with-tú)
surféales (combined-form dative imperative informal object-plural object-third-person second-person singular with-tú)
surféame (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-first-person object-singular second-person singular with-tú)
surféate (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-second-person object-singular second-person singular with-tú)
surféalo (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-singular object-third-person second-person singular with-tú)
surféala (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-singular object-third-person second-person singular with-tú)
surféanos (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-first-person object-plural second-person singular with-tú)
surféalos (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-plural object-third-person second-person singular with-tú)
surféalas (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-plural object-third-person second-person singular with-tú)
surfeame (combined-form dative imperative informal object-first-person object-singular second-person singular with-vos)
surfeate (combined-form dative imperative informal object-second-person object-singular second-person singular with-vos)
surfeale (combined-form dative imperative informal object-singular object-third-person second-person singular with-vos)
surfeanos (combined-form dative imperative informal object-first-person object-plural second-person singular with-vos)
surfeales (combined-form dative imperative informal object-plural object-third-person second-person singular with-vos)
surfeame (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-first-person object-singular second-person singular with-vos)
surfeate (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-second-person object-singular second-person singular with-vos)
surfealo (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-singular object-third-person second-person singular with-vos)
surfeala (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-singular object-third-person second-person singular with-vos)
surfeanos (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-first-person object-plural second-person singular with-vos)
surfealos (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-plural object-third-person second-person singular with-vos)
surfealas (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-plural object-third-person second-person singular with-vos)
surféeme (combined-form dative formal imperative object-first-person object-singular second-person singular)
surféele (combined-form dative formal imperative object-singular object-third-person second-person singular)
surféese (combined-form dative formal imperative object-singular object-third-person second-person singular)
surféenos (combined-form dative formal imperative object-first-person object-plural second-person singular)
surféeles (combined-form dative formal imperative object-plural object-third-person second-person singular)
surféeme (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-first-person object-singular second-person singular)
surféelo (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-singular object-third-person second-person singular)
surféela (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-singular object-third-person second-person singular)
surféese (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-singular object-third-person second-person singular)
surféenos (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-first-person object-plural second-person singular)
surféelos (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-plural object-third-person second-person singular)
surféelas (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-plural object-third-person second-person singular)
surfeémoste (combined-form dative first-person imperative object-second-person object-singular plural)
surfeémosle (combined-form dative first-person imperative object-singular object-third-person plural)
surfeémonos (combined-form dative first-person imperative object-first-person object-plural plural)
surfeémoos (combined-form dative first-person imperative object-plural object-second-person plural)
surfeémosles (combined-form dative first-person imperative object-plural object-third-person plural)
surfeémoste (accusative combined-form first-person imperative object-second-person object-singular plural)
surfeémoslo (accusative combined-form first-person imperative object-singular object-third-person plural)
surfeémosla (accusative combined-form first-person imperative object-singular object-third-person plural)
surfeémonos (accusative combined-form first-person imperative object-first-person object-plural plural)
surfeémoos (accusative combined-form first-person imperative object-plural object-second-person plural)
surfeémoslos (accusative combined-form first-person imperative object-plural object-third-person plural)
surfeémoslas (accusative combined-form first-person imperative object-plural object-third-person plural)
surfeadme (combined-form dative imperative informal object-first-person object-singular plural second-person)
surfeadle (combined-form dative imperative informal object-singular object-third-person plural second-person)
surfeadnos (combined-form dative imperative informal object-first-person object-plural plural second-person)
surfeaos (combined-form dative imperative informal object-plural object-second-person plural second-person)
surfeadles (combined-form dative imperative informal object-plural object-third-person plural second-person)
surfeadme (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-first-person object-singular plural second-person)
surfeadlo (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-singular object-third-person plural second-person)
surfeadla (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-singular object-third-person plural second-person)
surfeadnos (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-first-person object-plural plural second-person)
surfeaos (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-plural object-second-person plural second-person)
surfeadlos (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-plural object-third-person plural second-person)
surfeadlas (accusative combined-form imperative informal object-plural object-third-person plural second-person)
surféenme (combined-form dative formal imperative object-first-person object-singular plural second-person)
surféenle (combined-form dative formal imperative object-singular object-third-person plural second-person)
surféennos (combined-form dative formal imperative object-first-person object-plural plural second-person)
surféenles (combined-form dative formal imperative object-plural object-third-person plural second-person)
surféense (combined-form dative formal imperative object-plural object-third-person plural second-person)
surféenme (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-first-person object-singular plural second-person)
surféenlo (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-singular object-third-person plural second-person)
surféenla (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-singular object-third-person plural second-person)
surféennos (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-first-person object-plural plural second-person)
surféenlos (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-plural object-third-person plural second-person)
surféenlas (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-plural object-third-person plural second-person)
surféense (accusative combined-form formal imperative object-plural object-third-person plural second-person)


greenie

From green + -ie. Environmentalist sense first attested in Australia in 1973, referring to trade unionists who supported green bans.

“Come on Lil, catch a greenie,” I say. In between wipe-outs, Lily is having a great time too, occasionally catching waves all the way into the beach.

2014, Dianne Ellis, A Surfer's Healing Journey: The Beauty Beneath Life and Death, page 110:


paipo

Coined by the surfer Wallace Froiseth, possibly misheard or misspelled from Hawaiian pae + poʻo.

Any prone-ridden surf-craft that is neither an inflatable mat nor a traditional finless soft bodyboard.


windsurf

Unadapted borrowing from English windsurf.


windsurfer

pl-noun

windsurfer m pers (female equivalent windsurferka)

windsurferka (feminine)
windsurfer (nominative singular)
windsurferzy (nominative plural)
windsurfery (derogatory nominative plural)
windsurfera (genitive singular)
windsurferów (genitive plural)
windsurferowi (dative singular)
windsurferom (dative plural)
windsurfera (accusative singular)
windsurferów (accusative plural)
windsurferem (instrumental singular)
windsurferami (instrumental plural)
windsurferze (locative singular)
windsurferach (locative plural)
windsurferze (singular vocative)
windsurferzy (plural vocative)

Unadapted borrowing from English windsurfer.


groundswell

(nautical, surfing) A broad undulation of the open ocean, often as the result of a distant disturbance.


Hughie

From Hugh + -ie. Regarding rain, various etymologies have been proposed; see Send 'er down, Hughie!.

2006, DC Green, Surf Europe
Pipe scowled. “Hughie... send us swell! Not just any swell, but a grand macking swell! In return, we pray you will accept this near-virginal surfboard sacrifice that we make in your name!”

(surfing, chiefly humorous) Imaginary god who creates surf (waves, and associated conditions).


pig dog

In Sense 2, a calque of German Schweinehund. Taj Burrow offers two (perhaps fanciful) explanations for Sense 3: that surfers tend to assume a dog-like expression when in this stance (page 119) or that the stance is low and sturdy like a dog (glossary page 171).

The trick here is to do a so-called “pig-dog”. Standing sideways on your board with your back to the wave you will stall by twisting forward (in relation to the tip of your board) shoulder back, and using the arm belonging to it, drag your hand in the water. At the same time your rear hand grabs just behind the outside rail just somewhere near your forward foot. Now look at yourself and you will know why it is called a ‘pig-dog’.

2008, Peter Diel, Eric Menges, Surfing: In Search of the Perfect Wave, page 99:

(surfing) A stance used for surfing tubes on one’s backhand. The surfer crouches low over a bent front knee, back leg extending back, outside hand holding onto the outside rail, and inside arm extended upwards touching the face of the wave as a guide (or digging in to slow down).


curler

Oft considered the most even playing field on which to measure surf mastery, Slater’s innovative machine is a barrel-synthesizing environment and engineering feat. In a single round, The Wave produces a 6-foot curler capable of traveling 2,300 feet for up to one gnarly minute.

2021 August 25, Jilli Cluff, “Kelly Slater’s Artificial Wave Will Crown ‘The Ultimate Surfer’ on Hulu”, in GearJunkie:

There’s the mesmeric, thrumming beat. (Sound very much “on” for this one.) Dark purples and roiling seas under heavy storms. Then Manuel, barreling perfect curler after perfect curler.

2023 March 18, Sam Anderson, “Weekend Warm-Up: Liquid Lines, Entrancing Tunes, Mesmerizing Moments in ‘MALIA’”, in Explorersweb:

(surfing) A wave which breaks with a barrel


Eskimo roll

(surfing) The act of rolling under one's surfboard to dive through a wave, when heading out from shore.


invento

→ Tagalog: imbento


drop-in

Drop-ins can and often do happen accidentally. Sometimes you're so focussed on your take-off that you just don't see the other rider.

2004, Bill Mattos, Kayak Surfing, page 37:

(surfing) The act of dropping in; that is, taking a wave that another surfer is already riding.


rogue wave

Then one giant crest spills green water over the bow and stops our 100-ton vehicle as though it had ploughed into a gargantuan hay bale. . . . The rogue wave our experimental 78-foot craft hit must have been well over 10 feet high.

1974 June, Ben Kocivar, “75-knot ocean-going surface-effect ship”, in Popular Science, volume 204, number 6, retrieved 2015-10-28, page 91:

One of her owners, Mark Litchfield, was quoted by United Press International as saying a “rogue wave” might have knocked the ship over.

1984 June 4, Robert D. McFadden, “18 Missing, 1 Dead and 9 Rescued as Tall Ship is Lost near Bermuda”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-10-28:

Scientists still don't know exactly how rogue waves occur, nor do they know how to predict them.

2010 March 4, Bryan Walsh, “Cruise-Ship Disaster: How Do ‘Rogue Waves’ Work?”, in Time, retrieved 2015-10-28:

(nautical, surfing) An unexpected, dangerously large wave.


point break

Latigo Beach. Nice point break. Long workable rides.

(surfing slang) The location where a wave breaks as it hits a point of land jutting out from the coastline.


reef break

(surfing, slang) A wave that breaks over a projection from the seabed formed from coral reef or rock shelf.


shortboard

From short + board. Such a board is short in comparison to a longboard and the boards which preceded the shortboard historically.

(surfing) A type of surfboard which is about 6 to 7 feet long (boards are always measured in feet, even in metric countries), and with a tapered pointy nose.


funboard

(surfing) A type of surfboard which is roughly in between a shortboard and a mini-mal. A funboard is a little longer than a shortboard and with wider and somewhat rounded nose and tail, making it easier to paddle but still having most of the performance of a shortboard.


mini-mal

(surfing) A type of surfboard which is similar in shape to a mal (i.e. a malibu, or longboard) but shorter, being perhaps 7 to 8 feet where a mal is about 9 feet (surfboards are always measured in feet, even in metric countries).


slab

From Middle English sclabbe, slabbe, of uncertain origin; possibly from *slap, related to dialectal slappel (“portion, piece”), along with slape (“slippery”), sleip (“smooth piece of timber”), borrowed through Old Norse sleipr from Proto-Germanic *slaipaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leyb-. See also Norwegian sleip (“slippery”) and Icelandic sleipur.

After being towed into a massive slab, Dorian dropped down the face and caught a rail, putting him in a near-impossible situation.

2009, Bruce Boal, The Surfing Yearbook, SurfersVillage, page 31:

In August 2000 he successfully rode a slab of unfathomable power at Teahupo′o.

2011, Douglas Booth, Surfing: The Ultimate Guide, page 95:


lainelauta

lainelauta (nominative singular)
lainelaudat (nominative plural)
lainelauta (accusative nominative singular)
lainelaudat (accusative nominative plural)
lainelaudan (accusative genitive singular)
lainelaudat (accusative genitive plural)
lainelaudan (genitive singular)
lainelautojen (genitive plural)
lainelautain (genitive plural rare)
lainelautaa (partitive singular)
lainelautoja (partitive plural)
lainelaudassa (inessive singular)
lainelaudoissa (inessive plural)
lainelaudasta (elative singular)
lainelaudoista (elative plural)
lainelautaan (illative singular)
lainelautoihin (illative plural)
lainelaudalla (adessive singular)
lainelaudoilla (adessive plural)
lainelaudalta (ablative singular)
lainelaudoilta (ablative plural)
lainelaudalle (allative singular)
lainelaudoille (allative plural)
lainelautana (essive singular)
lainelautoina (essive plural)
lainelaudaksi (singular translative)
lainelaudoiksi (plural translative)
lainelaudatta (abessive singular)
lainelaudoitta (abessive plural)
lainelaudoin (instructive plural)
See the possessive forms below. (comitative)
lainelautani (nominative singular)
lainelautani (nominative plural)
lainelautani (accusative nominative singular)
lainelautani (accusative nominative plural)
lainelautani (accusative genitive singular)
lainelautani (accusative genitive plural)
lainelautani (genitive singular)
lainelautojeni (genitive plural)
lainelautaini (genitive plural rare)
lainelautaani (partitive singular)
lainelautojani (partitive plural)
lainelaudassani (inessive singular)
lainelaudoissani (inessive plural)
lainelaudastani (elative singular)
lainelaudoistani (elative plural)
lainelautaani (illative singular)
lainelautoihini (illative plural)
lainelaudallani (adessive singular)
lainelaudoillani (adessive plural)
lainelaudaltani (ablative singular)
lainelaudoiltani (ablative plural)
lainelaudalleni (allative singular)
lainelaudoilleni (allative plural)
lainelautanani (essive singular)
lainelautoinani (essive plural)
lainelaudakseni (singular translative)
lainelaudoikseni (plural translative)
lainelaudattani (abessive singular)
lainelaudoittani (abessive plural)
lainelautoineni (comitative plural)
lainelautasi (nominative singular)
lainelautasi (nominative plural)
lainelautasi (accusative nominative singular)
lainelautasi (accusative nominative plural)
lainelautasi (accusative genitive singular)
lainelautasi (accusative genitive plural)
lainelautasi (genitive singular)
lainelautojesi (genitive plural)
lainelautaisi (genitive plural rare)
lainelautaasi (partitive singular)
lainelautojasi (partitive plural)
lainelaudassasi (inessive singular)
lainelaudoissasi (inessive plural)
lainelaudastasi (elative singular)
lainelaudoistasi (elative plural)
lainelautaasi (illative singular)
lainelautoihisi (illative plural)
lainelaudallasi (adessive singular)
lainelaudoillasi (adessive plural)
lainelaudaltasi (ablative singular)
lainelaudoiltasi (ablative plural)
lainelaudallesi (allative singular)
lainelaudoillesi (allative plural)
lainelautanasi (essive singular)
lainelautoinasi (essive plural)
lainelaudaksesi (singular translative)
lainelaudoiksesi (plural translative)
lainelaudattasi (abessive singular)
lainelaudoittasi (abessive plural)
lainelautoinesi (comitative plural)
lainelautamme (nominative singular)
lainelautamme (nominative plural)
lainelautamme (accusative nominative singular)
lainelautamme (accusative nominative plural)
lainelautamme (accusative genitive singular)
lainelautamme (accusative genitive plural)
lainelautamme (genitive singular)
lainelautojemme (genitive plural)
lainelautaimme (genitive plural rare)
lainelautaamme (partitive singular)
lainelautojamme (partitive plural)
lainelaudassamme (inessive singular)
lainelaudoissamme (inessive plural)
lainelaudastamme (elative singular)
lainelaudoistamme (elative plural)
lainelautaamme (illative singular)
lainelautoihimme (illative plural)
lainelaudallamme (adessive singular)
lainelaudoillamme (adessive plural)
lainelaudaltamme (ablative singular)
lainelaudoiltamme (ablative plural)
lainelaudallemme (allative singular)
lainelaudoillemme (allative plural)
lainelautanamme (essive singular)
lainelautoinamme (essive plural)
lainelaudaksemme (singular translative)
lainelaudoiksemme (plural translative)
lainelaudattamme (abessive singular)
lainelaudoittamme (abessive plural)
lainelautoinemme (comitative plural)
lainelautanne (nominative singular)
lainelautanne (nominative plural)
lainelautanne (accusative nominative singular)
lainelautanne (accusative nominative plural)
lainelautanne (accusative genitive singular)
lainelautanne (accusative genitive plural)
lainelautanne (genitive singular)
lainelautojenne (genitive plural)
lainelautainne (genitive plural rare)
lainelautaanne (partitive singular)
lainelautojanne (partitive plural)
lainelaudassanne (inessive singular)
lainelaudoissanne (inessive plural)
lainelaudastanne (elative singular)
lainelaudoistanne (elative plural)
lainelautaanne (illative singular)
lainelautoihinne (illative plural)
lainelaudallanne (adessive singular)
lainelaudoillanne (adessive plural)
lainelaudaltanne (ablative singular)
lainelaudoiltanne (ablative plural)
lainelaudallenne (allative singular)
lainelaudoillenne (allative plural)
lainelautananne (essive singular)
lainelautoinanne (essive plural)
lainelaudaksenne (singular translative)
lainelaudoiksenne (plural translative)
lainelaudattanne (abessive singular)
lainelaudoittanne (abessive plural)
lainelautoinenne (comitative plural)
lainelautansa (nominative singular)
lainelautansa (nominative plural)
lainelautansa (accusative nominative singular)
lainelautansa (accusative nominative plural)
lainelautansa (accusative genitive singular)
lainelautansa (accusative genitive plural)
lainelautansa (genitive singular)
lainelautojensa (genitive plural)
lainelautainsa (genitive plural rare)
lainelautaansa (partitive singular)
lainelautojaan (partitive plural)
lainelautojansa (partitive plural)
lainelaudassaan (inessive singular)
lainelaudassansa (inessive singular)
lainelaudoissaan (inessive plural)
lainelaudoissansa (inessive plural)
lainelaudastaan (elative singular)
lainelaudastansa (elative singular)
lainelaudoistaan (elative plural)
lainelaudoistansa (elative plural)
lainelautaansa (illative singular)
lainelautoihinsa (illative plural)
lainelaudallaan (adessive singular)
lainelaudallansa (adessive singular)
lainelaudoillaan (adessive plural)
lainelaudoillansa (adessive plural)
lainelaudaltaan (ablative singular)
lainelaudaltansa (ablative singular)
lainelaudoiltaan (ablative plural)
lainelaudoiltansa (ablative plural)
lainelaudalleen (allative singular)
lainelaudallensa (allative singular)
lainelaudoilleen (allative plural)
lainelaudoillensa (allative plural)
lainelautanaan (essive singular)
lainelautanansa (essive singular)
lainelautoinaan (essive plural)
lainelautoinansa (essive plural)
lainelaudakseen (singular translative)
lainelaudaksensa (singular translative)
lainelaudoikseen (plural translative)
lainelaudoiksensa (plural translative)
lainelaudattaan (abessive singular)
lainelaudattansa (abessive singular)
lainelaudoittaan (abessive plural)
lainelaudoittansa (abessive plural)
lainelautoineen (comitative plural)
lainelautoinensa (comitative plural)

[ˈlɑ̝i̯ne̞lˌlɑ̝u̯t̪ɑ̝]


puinsai

(surfing) to pull inside the tube of the wave


surfare

it-verb

surfàre (first-person singular present sùrfo, first-person singular past historic surfài, past participle surfàto, auxiliary avére)

surfàre (canonical)
sùrfo (first-person present singular)
surfài (first-person historic past singular)
surfàto (participle past)
avére (auxiliary)
surfàre (infinitive)
avére (auxiliary)
surfàndo (gerund)
surfànte (participle present)
surfàto (participle past)
sùrfo (first-person indicative present singular)
sùrfi (indicative present second-person singular)
sùrfa (indicative present singular third-person)
surfiàmo (first-person indicative plural present)
surfàte (indicative plural present second-person)
sùrfano (indicative plural present third-person)
surfàvo (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
surfàvi (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
surfàva (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
surfavàmo (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
surfavàte (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
surfàvano (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
surfài (first-person historic indicative past singular)
surfàsti (historic indicative past second-person singular)
surfò (historic indicative past singular third-person)
surfàmmo (first-person historic indicative past plural)
surfàste (historic indicative past plural second-person)
surfàrono (historic indicative past plural third-person)
surferò (first-person future indicative singular)
surferài (future indicative second-person singular)
surferà (future indicative singular third-person)
surferémo (first-person future indicative plural)
surferéte (future indicative plural second-person)
surferànno (future indicative plural third-person)
surferèi (conditional first-person singular)
surferésti (conditional second-person singular)
surferèbbe (conditional singular third-person)
surferébbe (conditional singular third-person)
surferémmo (conditional first-person plural)
surferéste (conditional plural second-person)
surferèbbero (conditional plural third-person)
surferébbero (conditional plural third-person)
sùrfi (first-person present singular subjunctive)
sùrfi (present second-person singular subjunctive)
sùrfi (present singular subjunctive third-person)
surfiàmo (first-person plural present subjunctive)
surfiàte (plural present second-person subjunctive)
sùrfino (plural present subjunctive third-person)
surfàssi (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
surfàssi (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
surfàsse (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
surfàssimo (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
surfàste (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
surfàssero (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
sùrfa (imperative second-person singular)
sùrfi (formal imperative second-person-semantically singular third-person)
surfiàmo (first-person imperative plural)
surfàte (imperative plural second-person)
sùrfino (formal imperative plural second-person-semantically third-person)
surfàre (imperative negative second-person singular)
sùrfi (formal imperative negative second-person-semantically singular third-person)
surfiàmo (first-person imperative negative plural)
surfàte (imperative negative plural second-person)
sùrfino (formal imperative negative plural second-person-semantically third-person)

From surf (“surfing”) + -are (“infinitive marker”), from English surf.


surfi

eo-head

surfi (present surfas, past surfis, future surfos, conditional surfus, volitive surfu)

surfas (present)
surfis (past)
surfos (future)
surfus (conditional)
surfu (volitive)
surfas (present)
surfis (past)
surfos (future)
surfanta (active participle present singular)
surfantaj (active participle plural present)
surfinta (active participle past singular)
surfintaj (active participle past plural)
surfonta (active future participle singular)
surfontaj (active future participle plural)
surfantan (accusative active participle present singular)
surfantajn (accusative active participle plural present)
surfintan (accusative active participle past singular)
surfintajn (accusative active participle past plural)
surfontan (accusative active future participle singular)
surfontajn (accusative active future participle plural)
surfata (participle passive present singular)
surfataj (participle passive plural present)
surfita (participle passive past singular)
surfitaj (participle passive past plural)
surfota (future participle passive singular)
surfotaj (future participle passive plural)
surfatan (accusative participle passive present singular)
surfatajn (accusative participle passive plural present)
surfitan (accusative participle passive past singular)
surfitajn (accusative participle passive past plural)
surfotan (accusative future participle passive singular)
surfotajn (accusative future participle passive plural)
surfanto (active noun-from-verb participle present singular)
surfantoj (active noun-from-verb participle plural present)
surfinto (active noun-from-verb participle past singular)
surfintoj (active noun-from-verb participle past plural)
surfonto (active future noun-from-verb participle singular)
surfontoj (active future noun-from-verb participle plural)
surfanton (accusative active noun-from-verb participle present singular)
surfantojn (accusative active noun-from-verb participle plural present)
surfinton (accusative active noun-from-verb participle past singular)
surfintojn (accusative active noun-from-verb participle past plural)
surfonton (accusative active future noun-from-verb participle singular)
surfontojn (accusative active future noun-from-verb participle plural)
surfato (noun-from-verb participle passive present singular)
surfatoj (noun-from-verb participle passive plural present)
surfito (noun-from-verb participle passive past singular)
surfitoj (noun-from-verb participle passive past plural)
surfoto (future noun-from-verb participle passive singular)
surfotoj (future noun-from-verb participle passive plural)
surfaton (accusative noun-from-verb participle passive present singular)
surfatojn (accusative noun-from-verb participle passive plural present)
surfiton (accusative noun-from-verb participle passive past singular)
surfitojn (accusative noun-from-verb participle passive past plural)
surfoton (accusative future noun-from-verb participle passive singular)
surfotojn (accusative future noun-from-verb participle passive plural)
surfante (active adverbial participle present)
surfinte (active adverbial participle past)
surfonte (active adverbial future participle)
surfate (adverbial participle passive present)
surfite (adverbial participle passive past)
surfote (adverbial future participle passive)
surfi (infinitive plural present)
surfu (imperative past plural)
surfus (conditional future plural)


PWA

(surfing) Initialism of Professional Windsurfers Association.


kneeboard

(surfing) A short (often less than 6'), broad (sometimes extremely broad) surfboard designed to be ridden in the surf in a kneeling position, and often having traction pads in the central area as an alternative to wax, to help the knees grip the deck.


surfista

it-noun

surfista m or f by sense (masculine plural surfisti, feminine plural surfiste)

surfisti (masculine plural)
surfiste (feminine plural)

From surf (“surfing”) + -ista (“-ist, -er”), from English surf.


surfista

es-noun

surfista m or f by sense (plural surfistas)


wipeout

Ha ha! Did you see that wipeout?

(surfing) The act of falling off one's surfboard.


spinner

From Middle English spynnere; equivalent to spin + -er.

Robert had never done a spinner in his life.

1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:

Moves such as spinners, el rollos and a manoeuvre known as the ARS (air reverse spin) were all carried out.

1999 February 18, The Times, Victor Harbour, SA, page 32, column 5:

(surfing) A manoeuvre in which the surfer makes a complete 360° turn while riding a surfboard.


popout

Popout boards were also available in do-it-yourself kits. Non-popout surfboard manufacturer and retailers viewed popouts as a threat to business […]

2005, Matt Warshaw, The Encyclopedia of Surfing, page 471:

(surfing) A cheap surfboard manufactured from a mold.


malibu

Named for the town of Malibu, where the boards were first made.

(surfing) A type of lightweight longboard known for its stability.


layback

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-layback.wav

From lay + back (presumably from confusion between lay and lie).

(surfing) A surf maneuver where the upright surfer leans back against the wave.


surfeur

fr-noun

surfeur m (plural surfeurs, feminine surfeuse)

(surfing) surfer (someone who rides waves)