to channel-surf
5
5.6
- phrasal verb
- /ˈtʃænəl sɜrf/
- Informal
:
cambiar de canal
- She spent the whole afternoon channel surfing to find a good movie to settle down with.
- channel-surf on TV
- channel-surfing late at night
- television and start channel surfing
Examples
-
Put on your bathing suit because you'll be channel surfing in no time.
Fiction book (1996) -
After dinner, I often find myself channel surfing for something entertaining to watch.
-
Even during the near upset against Ohio State, I was channel surfing between a few games at my parents' house.
Blog text (28) -
Years ago, I was channel surfing and came upon you and Gene arguing about a film.
Blog text (9) -
Boring," he said, and started channel-surfing.
Fiction book (2001) -
Or if you're channel surfing and find it, you'll stop.
Blog text (3) -
After she went to bed, he poured himself a quadruple brandy and channel-surfed.
Fiction book (2001) -
I'm also pretty faithful to just a few shows; random channel surfing isn't something that's ever interested me.
Blog text (28) -
She's channel surfing.
Fiction book (1996) -
When I can't decide what to watch, I just start channel surfing until something catches my eye.
Synonyms
43
2.7
To look around online or through TV channels
23
1.3
Switch to a different television channel by pressing a button or using the remote
1
3.7
To change TV channels quickly using a remote control
Antonyms
How Fast
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Channel-surf combines channel ('a TV station') and surf ('to move quickly over waves'), like in the phrase 'surf the web'. So it pictures someone 'riding' TV channels quickly, which is why channel-surf means to switch channels rapidly without watching any program for long.