SURGE, noun [Latin surgo, to rise.] 1. A large wave or billow; great rolling swell of water. [It is not applied to small waves, and is chiefly used in poetry and eloquence.] He flies aloft, and with impetuous roar, Pursues the foaming surges to the shore. 2. In ship-building, the tapered part in front of the whelps, between the chocks of a capstan, on which the messenger may surge SURGE, verb intransitive To swell; to rise high and roll; as waves. The surging waters like a mountain rise. 1. To slip back, as, the cable surges.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI