surge

English

Etymology

From Middle English surgen, from possibly from Middle French sourgir, from Old French surgir (“to rise, ride near the shore, arrive, land”), from Old Catalan surgir, from Latin surgere, contr. of surrigere, subrigere (“transitive lift up, raise, erect; intransitive rise, arise, get up, spring up, grow, etc.”), from sub (“under”) + regere (“to stretch”); see regent.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• enPR: sûrj
• IPA: /sɝʤ/ (US) or /sɜːʤ/ (UK)
• SAMPA: /s3`dZ/ (US) or /s3:dZ/ (UK)
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)dʒ
• Homophone: serge

Noun

surge (plural surges)

1. (nautical) The swell or heave of the sea. (FM 55-501).
2. A sudden rush, flood or increase which is transient.

   He felt a surge of excitement.

3. A sudden electrical spike or increase of voltage and current.

   A power surge

4. The maximum amplitude of a vehicles' forward/backward oscillation

Synonyms

• inrush

Derived terms

• countersurge
• surgeless

Translations

swell of the sea

Finnish: maininki (fi), aallokko (fi) German: Brandung (de) f. Russian: волна (ru) f.

Slovak: príboj (sk) m., vlnobitie (sk) n., zdúvanie (sk) n. Spanish: oleada (es)

sudden transient rush or flood

Afrikaans: stuwing (af) Finnish: aalto (fi) German: Aufwallung (de) f., Schwall (de) m., Welle (de) f., Woge (de) f.

Portuguese: surto (pt) m. Russian: всплеск (ru) m. Slovak: nával (sk) m., príval (sk) m.

electrical spike

Finnish: jännitepiikki German: Überspannung (de) f., Spannungsstoß (de) m. Japanese: サージ (sāji)

Polish: skok napięcia (pl) m. Slovak: špička (sk) m.

Verb

surge (third-person singular simple present surges, present participle surging, simple past and past participle surged)

1. (intransitive) To rush, flood, or increase suddenly.

   Toaster sales surged last year.

2. To accelerate forwards, particularly suddenly.

   A ship surges forwards, sways sideways and heaves up.

   • 2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegro”, BBC:

     Wales began the second half as they ended the first, closing down Montenegro quickly and the pressure told as Bale surged into the box and pulled the ball back for skipper Ramsey, arriving on cue, to double their lead.

3. (transitive, nautical) To slack off a line.

Related terms

• source

Translations

to rush, flood, or increase suddenly

Slovak: nahrnúť sa (sk), navaliť sa (sk)

to accelerate forwards, particularly suddenly

Galician: xurdir (gl)

Slovak: vyraziť (sk), vyrútiť sa (sk), vyvaliť sa (sk)

References

• surge in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• surge in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• FM 55-501

Anagrams

• grues
• urges

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Latin

Verb

surge

1. second-person singular present active imperative of surgō  "get thou up, arise thou"
   • Surge et ambula (Matt. IX. v.5)

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Spanish

Verb

surge (infinitive surgir)

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of surgir.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of surgir.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of surgir.