Epic surf words
A surf glossary in plain English: what surfers mean when they say cooking, firing, skunked or pitted. 117 surf words, one definition each.
Word of the day
Double overhead
Waves with a face about twice the height of the surfer, roughly 3.5 metres or 12 feet.
A
- A-frame
- A peak that breaks both left and right, shaped like the letter A.
- Ankle slappers
- Tiny waves, barely big enough to ride.
B
- Backside
- Riding with your back to the wave.
- Barney
- A clumsy or inexperienced surfer, similar to a kook.
- Barrel
- The hollow space inside a wave when its lip throws out ahead of the face, forming a tube a surfer can ride through.
- Beach break
- A wave that breaks over a sandy bottom.
- Berg wind
- A hot, dry wind that blows from the interior towards the coast in South Africa.
- Blown out
- The wind has ruined the waves.
- Bomb
- An unusually big wave, much larger than the rest of the set.
- Bottom turn
- The turn at the bottom of the wave after the drop.
C
- Cape Doctor
- The strong south-easterly wind that blows through Cape Town in summer.
- Caught inside
- Stuck between the breaking waves and the shore while a set breaks on top of you.
- Charger
- A surfer who takes on big, heavy or dangerous waves without hesitation.
- Chest high
- Waves about as tall as an adult's chest.
- Choppy
- The surface of the water is rough with small, wind-driven bumps, making waves harder to ride.
- Clean
- Well-shaped waves with smooth faces and no wind chop.
- Clean-up set
- A set bigger than the others that breaks further out than everyone is sitting and washes the whole lineup towards the beach.
- Closeout
- A wave that breaks along its whole length at once instead of peeling, leaving no open face to ride.
- Cooking
- The surf is head high or bigger and really good.
- Cross-shore
- Wind blowing along the coast rather than on or off it.
- Cutback
- A turn back towards the breaking part of the wave, used to stay close to the power when you've ridden too far onto the shoulder.
D
- Dawn patrol
- A surf at first light, before work or before the wind comes up.
- Ding
- A dent, crack or hole in a surfboard.
- Double overhead
- Waves with a face about twice the height of the surfer, roughly 3.5 metres or 12 feet.
- Drop in
- Catching a wave that another surfer, closer to the peak, is already riding.
- Duck dive
- Pushing a shortboard and yourself under an oncoming wave so it passes over you while paddling out.
- Dumpy
- Waves that rise steeply and break all at once, usually on a steep beach.
E
- Epic
- Exceptionally good surf, the kind of session people talk about for years.
F
- Face
- The front, unbroken side of a wave that a surfer rides on.
- Fat
- A wave that's thick and slow without much steepness, so it's hard to catch and doesn't have much push.
- Firing
- The surf is very good, almost as good as cooking.
- Fish
- A short, wide surfboard with a split swallow tail, built for speed in small to medium waves.
- Flat
- No waves at all.
- Floater
- Riding up and over a breaking section of the wave, along the top of the whitewater, then dropping back down.
- Foamie
- A soft-top surfboard made from foam, used by beginners and for fun in small waves.
- Frontside
- Riding with your chest facing the wave.
- Frother
- Someone who is wildly enthusiastic about surfing and wants to be in the water all the time.
G
- Glassy
- There's no wind and the ocean's surface is smooth like glass.
- Gnarly
- Dangerous, extreme or intimidating.
- Going off
- The surf is excellent right now.
- Goofy
- Riding with your right foot forward.
- Grom
- A young surfer, usually a kid or young teenager.
- Groundswell
- Swell made by distant storms that has travelled a long way across the ocean.
- Gun
- A long, narrow, pointed surfboard made for paddling into big waves.
H
I
- Inside
- The area closer to shore than where the waves are breaking.
K
- Keg
- Australian slang for a barrel.
- Kick out
- Ending a ride on purpose by turning up and over the back of the wave.
- Knee high
- Waves about as tall as an adult's knee, measured on the face.
- Kook
- An inexperienced surfer who doesn't know the etiquette, or anyone acting clueless in the water.
- Kook cord
- A joking name for a leash, the cord that ties your ankle to your board.
L
- Late drop
- Catching a wave at the last second, as it's already steep or breaking.
- Left
- A wave that breaks towards the surfer's left as they ride it, which is to the right as seen from the beach.
- Lekker
- South African slang for good, nice or great, used everywhere including the lineup.
- Lineup
- The area beyond the breaking waves where surfers sit and wait for waves, and the group of surfers sitting there.
- Lip
- The top edge of a breaking wave that throws forward.
- Local
- A surfer who lives near a break and surfs it regularly.
- Localism
- Locals being hostile to visiting surfers to keep a spot to themselves, ranging from dirty looks to violence.
- Log
- A longboard, usually nine feet or longer.
- Lull
- The quiet period between sets when few or no waves arrive.
M
- Maxing
- The waves are at the biggest size a spot can handle before it stops working or closes out.
- Mission
- A trip, often long or difficult, to chase waves somewhere you don't normally surf.
- Mushburger
- A weak, crumbly wave with no power at all.
- Mushy
- Soft, slow waves with little power.
O
- Offshore
- Wind blowing from the land out to sea.
- Onshore
- Wind blowing from the sea towards the land.
- Outside
- The area further out than the main lineup.
- Over the falls
- Getting sucked up the face and thrown down with the lip of a breaking wave.
- Overhead
- Waves taller than the surfer riding them.
P
- Paddle out
- Paddling from the beach through the waves to the lineup.
- Party wave
- A wave shared by several surfers at once, by agreement.
- Peak
- The highest point of a wave, where it starts to break.
- Pearling
- When the nose of the board digs into the water on the takeoff and pitches you forward.
- Peeling
- A wave that breaks steadily from one end to the other, leaving an open face to ride along.
- Pitted
- Ridden deep inside a barrel.
- Point break
- A wave that wraps around a headland or point of land and peels along it.
- Pop-up
- Getting from lying on the board to standing in one quick movement.
- Pumping
- A strong swell is running and the waves are big, powerful and consistent.
Q
R
- Rag-dolled
- Tumbled around underwater by a wave with no control, like a rag doll.
- Rail
- The edge of a surfboard.
- Reef break
- A wave that breaks over rock or coral.
- Regular
- Riding with your left foot forward.
- Right
- A wave that breaks towards the surfer's right as they ride it, which is to the left as seen from the beach.
- Rocker
- The curve of a surfboard from nose to tail.
- Runner
- A long, fast wave that peels a long way, giving a long ride.
S
- Section
- A part of a wave that breaks ahead of where the surfer is riding.
- Set
- A group of bigger waves that arrive together, with quieter periods between them.
- Shoobie
- A day-tripper or tourist at the beach, usually unaware of surf etiquette.
- Shorey
- A wave that breaks right on the beach, often hard and fast in shallow water.
- Shoulder
- The part of the wave that hasn't broken yet, sloping away from the peak.
- Skunked
- You went on a big mission because the surf report said it would be good, but the report was wrong and there was no surf.
- Slab
- A thick, heavy wave that breaks suddenly over shallow reef or rock, often with a step in the face.
- Snake
- Paddling around another surfer to get into a better position for the next wave, stealing their priority.
- Snap
- A sharp, fast turn off the top of the wave.
- Soup
- The foamy whitewater left after a wave has broken.
- Sponger
- A playful, sometimes rude name for a bodyboarder.
- Springsuit
- A wetsuit with short arms and legs, for warmer water.
- Steamer
- A full wetsuit with long arms and legs, for cold water.
- Step-up
- A board slightly longer than your everyday board, for when the waves get bigger.
- Stick
- Slang for a surfboard.
- Stoked
- Thrilled and happy, usually after a good surf.
T
- Takeoff
- The moment you catch a wave and stand up to ride it.
- Thruster
- A board with three fins, the most common setup on modern shortboards.
- Turtle roll
- Flipping a longboard upside down and holding on underneath while a wave passes over, used when the board is too big to duck dive.
- Twin fin
- A board with two fins, fast and loose in small waves.
V
- Victory at sea
- Wild, stormy and completely disorganised surf, with waves coming from every direction.
W
- Waist high
- Waves about as tall as an adult's waist.
- Wave hog
- Someone who catches far more than their share of waves and doesn't let others have a turn.
- Wax
- The sticky wax rubbed on the deck of a surfboard so your feet don't slip.
- Wedge
- A wave that jumps up suddenly when a second wave or backwash merges with it, making a steep, peaky shape.
- Windswell
- Swell made by wind close to the coast.
- Wipeout
- Falling off your board while riding a wave.
About this glossary
Surfslang.com is a surf glossary for anyone who hears surfers talk and wants to know what they mean: beginners, travellers, parents of groms and surfers settling arguments. It covers 117 surf slang words and surf terms, from wave conditions and sizes to moves, wipeouts, gear and lineup etiquette, with a few regional words from South Africa, Australia and the United States.
Every word has its own page with a plain-English definition, an example of it in use and related words. Link to any of them directly, for example surfslang.com/cooking. Missing a word? Submit it.