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surge

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A sudden or abrupt strong increase.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

surj
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsɝdʒ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A sudden or abrupt strong increase

  2. A sudden transient rush, flood or increase.

  3. electricity

    A sudden electrical spike or increase of voltage and current.

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

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

verb

  1. intransitive

    To rush, flood, or increase suddenly.

  2. To accelerate forwards, particularly suddenly.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A sudden or abrupt strong increase

Used this way, surge is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Sudden and forceful
Usage feel
Blunt and forceful

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use surge

  • “The army surged forward.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

storm surgesurge tankpower surgesurge protectorsudden surgegreat surgenew surgerecent surge

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • spate

    A sudden increase or rush of something.

  • upsurge

    A sudden strong rise or flow.

  • zoom

    A big increase.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • surgicaladjectiveDerived adjective

    Related to A sudden or abrupt strong increase.

  • surgicallyadverbDerived adverb

    In a surgical manner.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • surge suppressornounCompound term

    Electrical device inserted in a power line to protect equipment from sudden fluctuations in current.

  • surge protectornounCompound term

    Electrical device inserted in a power line to protect equipment from sudden fluctuations in current.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: sudden or abrupt strong increase

spateupsurge

verb

Sense: to rush or flood or or increase suddenly

spate

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Looking for a more precise alternative? “surge” can mean several things.

He strode across the room.He hurried across the room.He darted across the room.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.