Meaning of train surf | Babel Free

Definitions

To either stand on a the roof of a moving train and surf it like a wave, or to hang on and ride on the exterior of a train.

informal, intransitive

Examples

“1998: Felicity Allen, Health Psychology: Theory and Practice - Adolescents may be rejected by their parents and feel so worthless that they want to do dangerous things such as ‘train-surfing'. [published in Australia]”

“2006: Weekend Argus 14 May 2006 p.8. - An 18 year old boy was electrocuted yesterday while "train surfing" in Soweto yesterday, emergency services said. The boy had been standing on the roof of the train... According to emergency services, the boys wait until the train is travelling slowly and climb onto the roof and ride it like a surf board. [published in South Africa]”

“2003: Melvin M. Carpio, The Web of Darkness - We would often try our hand at train surfing, that is, the act of riding outside the train, hanging on the back of the last car, holding on for dear life, while the train is in motion. [published in USA]”

“2004: Expatica, read at https://web.archive.org/web/20050313211316/http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=4722 on 22 May 2006 - A 15-year-old boy was killed on Saturday night while he and a friend "train surfed" ... near Rotterdam. ... One of the boys opened a window of a stationary train at about 9pm and when the train started to move, both of them climbed out through the window and hung onto the train from the outside. [published in UK]”

CEFR level