surge

From Middle English surgen, possibly from Middle French sourgir, from Old French surgir (“to rise, ride near the shore, arrive, land”), from Old Catalan surgir, from Latin surgō, contraction of surrigō, subrigō (“lift up, raise, erect; intransitive rise, arise, get up, spring up, grow, etc.”, transitive verb), from sub (“from below; up”) + regō (“to stretch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root *h₃reǵ-; see regent.

• (US) enPR: sûrj IPA^(key): /sɝd͡ʒ/

  • Audio (US):

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• (UK) IPA^(key): /sɜːd͡ʒ/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dʒ
• Homophone: serge

surge (plural surges)

1. A sudden transient rush, flood or increase.
   • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     As President Obama turns his attention once again to filling out a cabinet and writing an Inaugural Address, this much is clear: he should not expect to bask in a surge of national unity, or to witness a crowd of millions overrun the Mall just to say they were there.

   He felt a surge of excitement.

2. The maximum amplitude of a vehicle's forward/backward oscillation.
3. (electricity) A sudden electrical spike or increase of voltage and current.

   A power surge at that generator created a blackout across the whole district.

   • 1959 March, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 132:

     When the diesel was being worked full out, the ammeter normally showed about 1,500-1,600 amps, with occasional surges of current at starting or up the steepest gradients to 1,700 or even 1,800 amps.

4. (aviation) A momentary reversal of the airflow through the compressor section of a jet engine due to disruption of the airflow entering the engine's air intake, accompanied by loud banging noises, emission of flame, and temporary loss of thrust.
5. (nautical) The swell or heave of the sea (FM 55-501).
   • 1901, Bible (American Standard Version), James i. 6

     He that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

   • 1697, Virgil, “Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     He flies aloft, and, with impetuous roar, / Pursues the foaming surges to the shore.

6. (US, naval, often attributive) A deployment in large numbers at short notice.

   surge capacity; surge fleet; surge deployment capabilities

7. (obsolete) A spring; a fountain.
   • 1523-1525, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, Froissart's Chronicles

     all great rivers are gorged and assembled of various surges and springs of water

8. The tapered part of a windlass barrel or a capstan, upon which the cable surges, or slips.

• inrush

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.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.

   • 2013 March, David S. Senchina, “Athletics and Herbal Supplements”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 2, page 134:

     Athletes' use of herbal supplements has skyrocketed in the past two decades. At the top of the list of popular herbs are echinacea and ginseng, whereas garlic, St. John's wort, soybean, ephedra and others are also surging in popularity or have been historically prevalent.

2. To accelerate forwards, particularly suddenly.

   A ship surges forwards, sways sideways and heaves up.

   • 2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegro”, in 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. (intransitive, aviation, of a jet engine) To experience a momentary reversal of airflow through the compressor section due to disruption of intake airflow.

   Use of maximum reverse thrust at low speeds can cause the engine to surge from ingesting its own exhaust.

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

• source
• surgation

• “surge”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “surge”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• FM 55-501

• Ruges, grues, urges

• IPA^(key): /ˈsur.d͡ʒe/
• Rhymes: -urdʒe
• Hyphenation: sùr‧ge

surge

1. third-person singular present indicative of surgere

• Serug

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈsur.ɡe/, [ˈs̠ʊrɡɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsur.d͡ʒe/, [ˈsurd͡ʒe]

surge

1. second-person singular present active imperative of surgō

   Surge et ambula ― Arise, and walk (Matt. IX. v.5)

surge

1. inflection of surgir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

• IPA^(key): /ˈsuɾxe/ [ˈsuɾ.xe]
• Rhymes: -uɾxe
• Syllabification: sur‧ge

surge

1. inflection of surgir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative