channel surf, v. orig. and chiefly U.S.
Brit. /ˈtʃanˌl səːf/, U.S. /ˈtʃanəl ˌsərf/
[‹ channel n.1 + surf v.]
intr. To change frequently between television channels, esp. using a remote-control device; to watch snatches of different programmes in a rapid scan through channels, esp. in search of something appealing.
| 1986 Wall St. Jrnl. 10 Nov. 20/1 Older consumers who initially spurned cabled expansion of prime-time selections now browse confidently with their new toys, channel-surfing blithely through the evenings. 1991 Vanity Fair Sept. 301/3 When not checking out Batman's unit, Paglia channel-surfs across the TV dial, breaking off one of our chats to catch the Daytime Emmy Awards. 1996 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 24 Jan. 19/1 During the federal election campaign a prime-time hour of commercial television may only take 44 minutes to watch, if you channel surf during the ads. 2000 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 1 Oct. We were channel surfing last week, my friend and I. One minute there were jubilant scenes from the Sydney Olympics; the next minute we were watching all these women sobbing on the set of Maury, one of those generic morning chat shows. |