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channel surfing
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Idioms and Phrases
Switching from one television station (channel) to another frequently, either to search for an interesting program or to keep track of several programs at once. For example, What did you see on TV last night?—Nothing much; I was just channel surfing . The term transfers the surfer's search for good waves to the viewer's search for programs. This practice became widespread with the use of remote-control devices for changing channels while remaining seated some distance from the television set. [1980s] A 1990s version is Internet surfing , a similar process for searching cyberspace.Discover More
Example Sentences
The viewer had to opt in to be engaged, the virtual equivalent of someone channel-surfing in hopes of finding a political ad.
From The Daily Beast
But if one person's channel surfing and the other's disinterested, go right ahead and browse.
From The Daily Beast
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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