1A sudden powerful forward or upward movement, especially by a crowd or by a natural force such as the tide.

1. 1.1A sudden large increase, typically a temporary one.
   ‘the firm predicted a 20% surge in sales’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Is that just a short-term boost, caused by a temporary surge in the oil price?’
   • ‘Sports marketing companies are predicting a surge in the sales of Jordan merchandise.’
   • ‘Most important, the turn for the better in the job market over the past year has supplied the household sector with a growth surge in income from wages and salaries.’
   • ‘Killarney is experiencing a surge in interest for larger retail units, mirroring a trend seen in other large rural towns, according to local agents.’
   • ‘It naturally caused a sensation and there was a temporary surge of interest.’
   • ‘Watch out for a surge of interest in the Honda CR-V, which gets a marvellous new diesel engine next year.’
   • ‘Apart from a temporary, minor surge in the sale of motor vehicles, expenditures on consumer durables were flat over the year.’
   • ‘Due to the recent surge of stock options, more investors today than ever before seem to have problems with overly concentrated portfolios.’
   • ‘The result has been a surge of interest in properties within this price bracket.’
   • ‘In fact, the biggest surge in recent sales trends has been for flip-up, network-backed, celebrity-endorsed models.’
   • ‘Last year, the huge surge in new auto sales came in the small car categories.’
   • ‘After decades with barely a mention, the game seems to have experienced a huge surge in popularity.’
   • ‘Mobile phone companies have reported a massive surge in sales in the run-up to Christmas.’
   • ‘Despite a recent surge in popularity, the auction rooms have not been profitable for the past 10 years.’
   • ‘Behind the recent surge in demand is a pickup in consumer spending after a long spell in the doldrums.’
   • ‘Fancy dress shops have reported an unusual surge in demand for Elvis costumes this week.’
   • ‘The Halifax suggests that low interest rates and strong consumer confidence is behind the latest surge in prices.’
   • ‘The latest surge in house-price inflation has been spurred by the lowest mortgage rates for 40 years.’
   • ‘Well, the latest surge in activity started about a week ago.’
   • ‘The surge was mainly due to the maiden operation of four new production lines during the period, Zhang said.’
   Synonyms

   sudden increase, rise, growth, upswing, upsurge, escalation, jump, leap, boost

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2. 1.2A major deployment of military forces to reinforce those already in a particular area.
   ‘Average turnaround time during the ground war surge rate flight operations was 23 minutes.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘The U.S. Navy will conduct a major "surge" exercise off the China coast later this Summer.’
   • ‘During the surge, Task Force 385 managed the movement of 211,000 pieces of equipment through the port.’
   • ‘Note that surge is not necessarily a result of a single contingency.’
   • ‘The surge of these armies would come to an end during the second week of September.’
   • ‘Current production facilities were generally built to handle Cold War requirements for major end items and accommodate a mobilization surge.’
   • ‘Tolman and others didn't know it at the time, but the surge had just begun.’
   • ‘At the peak of the surge, up to 80 aircraft were parked on the ramp, including 23 C - 5 Galaxy aircraft carrying supplies and people to the war zone.’
   • ‘During sortie surges when aircraft fly four times per day, two hot pit sessions reduce the flying hour window by over 3 hours.’
   • ‘At the peak of the surge, four large, medium-speed, roll-on-roll-off vessels and one fast sealift ship were berthed at the same time.’
3. 1.3A powerful rush of an emotion or feeling.
   ‘Sophie felt a surge of anger’
   More example sentences

   • ‘She felt a surge of powerful emotions - fear, anger, and even power.’
   • ‘The pace is slow and the mood sombre, even dreamy, cut across occasionally by great surges of emotion.’
   • ‘Television appeals to emotion, a surge of emotion, and it doesn't really make much difference what the emotion is about.’
   • ‘About an hour ago I felt a surge of emotion encompassing me.’
   • ‘He continued to look at the car and then a surge of emotion ran over his face: anger.’
   • ‘All that was needed was a sufficient amount of anger and a powerful surge of hatred.’
   • ‘Throughout Taiwan there was a striking surge of emotion by the public.’
   • ‘The mere realisation that it's possible, the frightening strength and unexpected occurrence of the surge of emotion is enough to give such a jolt to your body and your mind that you never forget.’
   • ‘The good boss who finds one of his executives has failed to deliver a piece of research on time and to the right standard will probably feel a surge of anger or irritation.’
   • ‘For those of strong mind, such as the author of this novel, harnessing these surges of emotions can lead to great power.’
   • ‘Cray hid a surge of some unidentifiable emotion.’
   • ‘I held back the surge of emotions stirred by her words.’
   • ‘Hiding her face behind her shoulder-length black hair, she fought for control as a powerful surge of emotions swept through her.’
   • ‘I shouted, feeling a sudden surge of anger.’
   • ‘Even consciously, she could feel her newly found power surge through her veins.’
   • ‘A new surge of anger surged through her, making her whole body tremble.’
   • ‘The surges of emotion that this dog experiences can be both light and dark.’
   • ‘Who can deny that surge of pride at being told Britain has bronze in the yachting?’
   • ‘A fleeting surge of pride filled her for a second, but it was quickly displaced by disappointment.’
   • ‘The the air was filled with a surge of excitement.’
   Synonyms

   rush, blast, storm, torrent, blaze, outburst, eruption

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4. 1.4A sudden marked increase in voltage or current in an electric circuit.
   ‘The result is a surge of extra electric current into power systems and every other sort of cable.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘The hardware has been redesigned to prevent damage caused by short circuits or power surges.’
   • ‘Voltage surges and spikes occur for a number of reasons.’
   • ‘After the electric surge, which happens for about ten minutes, the mixture has to be put into extreme heat so that the impurities in the mixture are removed.’
   • ‘The beeping quickened as he watched the electrical current surge higher and higher with a sigh.’
   • ‘The power surge put a sudden burst of heat into the uranium fuel, and it broke up into little pieces.’
   • ‘Other situations affecting power quality are transients or spikes, surges or over-voltages, noise and sags or brownouts.’
   • ‘Its circuits seemed to spark and its visual screen simply gave out as a surge of electric energy ripped through its metal frame.’
   • ‘This weapon generates a very short, intense energy pulse producing a transient surge of thousands of volts that kills semiconductor devices.’
   • ‘If there is an unexpected surge, the ground wire will siphon the electricity down before it reaches the part of the line that's getting repaired.’
   • ‘Power surges travel through any electric, telephone, or coaxial cable line.’
   • ‘UPSs can protect equipment from the full range of potential power anomalies - not just outages, surges and spikes.’
   • ‘It lasted no longer than a minute, but it sent electric surges through them both.’
   • ‘A power surge pulsed from the handle, causing the glow to explode around Zach.’
   • ‘A good UPS should also offer line conditioning, which means it should also be able to compensate for extended drops in voltage and filter spikes and surges.’
   • ‘Electronic failures are most common after a power surge or due to some other electric problem, and the most common type is control board failure.’
   • ‘The surge of electricity blew a nearby transformer, knocking out the power supply.’
   • ‘He had repaired the meteor damage but somewhere some circuits had been fried from a power surge and he wasn't able to track them all down.’
   • ‘His glove resisted destruction, but it became super hot and the sheer force of the surge almost propelled him out into the engine room.’

1no object, usually with adverbial (of a crowd or a natural force) move suddenly and powerfully forward or upward.

1. 1.1Increase suddenly and powerfully.
   ‘shares surged to a record high’
   More example sentences

   • ‘He warned that unless supply continued to meet demand, prices would surge once again.’
   • ‘The prospect of power cuts had risen during the late 1990s as demand for power surged in line with economic growth.’
   • ‘The testing equipment-maker's shares surged as sales rose for the first time in six quarters.’
   • ‘Such a drop commonly occurs when the Index surges rapidly out of its normal pattern.’
   • ‘There's no way to pick and choose which gets cut off when demand surges, prices spike, and supply gets tight.’
   • ‘The shares surged 5.08 per cent before the close.’
   • ‘That demand surged more than 4 percent in April but supply is 5 percent below the five-year average.’
   • ‘The index surged just one day after setting a new 52-week low at 81.80 points.’
   • ‘However, recently oil demand has surged as globalisation fuels double-digit growth in China and India.’
   • ‘Shares in the retailer surged more than 20 per cent in trading on Tuesday after it confirmed an approach had been made.’
   • ‘As the new millennium dawned and state-wide demand for power surged, the crisis broke.’
   • ‘Stoked in part by the success of the iPod music player, Apple shares have surged to nearly $34 recently - the highest in four years.’
   • ‘Already, the stock is surging nearly 40 percent.’
   • ‘Passenger car sales surged 76 per cent last year to 1.97 million units.’
   • ‘Yesterday's decline represented a complete reversal on yesterday's session, when shares surged upwards.’
   • ‘The United States trade deficit with the rest of the world has surged once again to a new record.’
   • ‘One of them was barely in school when he mastered a sport that is surging in popularity.’
   • ‘Fuel prices that surged to records have also eroded profitability.’
   • ‘Most of the U.S. wireless industry surged in the first quarter as new subscribers soared.’
   • ‘Confidence surged in the second quarter, even though spending growth slowed.’
   Synonyms

   increase suddenly, rise, grow, escalate, jump, leap, boost

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2. 1.2(of an emotion or feeling) affect someone powerfully and suddenly.
   ‘indignation surged up within her’
   More example sentences

   • ‘I hated this feeling, this indescribable and uncomfortable emotion surging up within me.’
   • ‘I had so many emotions and feelings surging through me at the same time then - emptiness is just not the right description.’
   • ‘My voice is loud, but also rather high-pitched, and on the verge of cracking with all of the emotion surging within me.’
   • ‘Jealousy suddenly surged within me, and I took off, running.’
   • ‘My heart raced and emotions surged before I consciously grasped the meaning of what I was reading in that footnote.’
   • ‘A nameless feeling surges when I see other people's families come.’
   • ‘An odd feeling was suddenly surging through her and as she opened her front door, she felt the tears slowly stop.’
   • ‘Ines tried to shake off the feelings surging inside her but failed completely.’
   • ‘A feeling of triumph surged into the student's body.’
   • ‘When the principal told her that he was going to call her parents, a feeling of dread surged in her.’
   • ‘Excitement and fear surged through her as she looked at the stick.’
   • ‘A feeling of pride surged through me and I couldn't stop smiling.’
   • ‘My joy and hope surged as Schulz cast a very different light on the situation.’
   • ‘I turned away from him, angry feelings surging through me.’
   • ‘Jerry had a hard time concentrating, with so many voices and so many emotions surging through him.’
   • ‘A pounding feeling of adrenaline surged through her.’
   • ‘I look at my sisters and the delight on their faces matches the joy surging inside of me.’
   • ‘Panic surged in her chest, cutting off her breath.’
   • ‘Another excitement surged in her - it was night already.’
   • ‘Adrenaline surges through your veins, and somehow, you jump.’
   Synonyms

   affect, rush over, rush through, thrill through, race over, surge through, course through, flood over, flow over, sweep over, flutter through

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3. 1.3(of an electric voltage or current) increase suddenly.
   ‘He screamed in pain as he hit the portal, a blue electric current surging around his body.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘As the magnetic storm raged through the night, huge geomagnetically induced currents surged through the wires and cables.’
   • ‘The current surged through my leg, and I screamed again.’
   • ‘I could feel immense surges of electricity surging through my body.’
   • ‘A bolt of electricity surged through her body, and Kessah shrieked loudly.’
   • ‘A huge amount of electricity surged through his body, sending him stumbling back a few feet.’
   • ‘Just as an electrical fuse blows when power surges, so the human electrical system short circuits when overwhelmed.’
   • ‘Cooper yelled as his body surged with electricity.’
   • ‘I paid attention to the electricity that surged from my fingers to the very tips of my toes.’

2Nautical
no object, usually with adverbial (of a rope, chain, or windlass) slip back with a jerk.