Other forms: surged, surges, surging
To surge is to rush forward or upward in a sudden powerful wave. The crowd surged, prices surged, a surge of relief.
It is used of crowds, water, electricity, prices and feelings alike, and what they share is sudden volume. A power surge is a spike in voltage that damages equipment, which is what a surge protector guards against. A storm surge is the rise in sea level pushed ahead of a storm and is what actually floods coastal towns. Note surge pricing, which raises fares when demand rises.
1verbsurgeTo rush forward or upward in a sudden powerful wave.
“When the gates opened, the crowd surged forward towards the stage.”
2nounriseA sudden powerful rise.
“There has been a surge in bike sales since the new cycle lanes opened.”
surge is a sudden powerful rise.
Old French surgir meant to rise or ride at anchor, from Latin surgere, to rise — sub plus regere. Resurrection and source come from the same rising.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₃reǵ-
Proto-Indo-European
*h₃réǵeti — to straighten; right
Latin
surgō
roa-oca
surgir
Old French
surgir — to rise, ride near the shore, arrive, land
Middle French
sourgir
English, today
surge
Built from
The verb is from Middle English, possibly from Middle French sourgir, from Old French surgir (“to rise, ride near the shore, arrive, land”), from roa-oca surgir, from Latin surgō, contraction of surrigō, subrigō (“lift up, raise, erect; intransitive rise, arise, get up, spring up, grow, etc.”), from sub (“from below; up”) + regō (“to stretch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root h₃reǵ-; see regent. a doublet of source and sourd. The noun is from the verb.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA