groundswell

See also: ground swell

English

Alternative forms

• ground swell

Etymology

ground +‎ swell

Noun

groundswell (plural groundswells)

1. (nautical, surfing) A broad undulation of the open ocean, often as the result of a distant disturbance.
2. (by extension) A broadly-based shifting of public opinion.
   • 2008 January 7, Ewen MacAskill, “Groundswell for Obama leaves Clinton campaign on the rack”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     An astonishing groundswell of support for the new Democratic frontrunner, Barack Obama, is threatening to sweep Hillary Clinton away in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary election of the 2008 presidential contest tomorrow.

   • 2020 July 29, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Railways that reach out over the waves”, in Rail, page 51:

     The 1987 book British Piers was written at a time when Britain's seaside resorts were perhaps at their lowest ebb, with a groundswell of support for rejuvenation and conservation just beginning.

   • 2022 April 1, Anton Troianovski, Ivan Nechepurenko, Valeriya Safronova, “Shaken at First, Many Russians Now Rally Behind Putin’s Invasion”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     The public’s endorsement of the war lacks the patriotic groundswell that greeted the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Related terms

• wind swell

Translations

broad undulation of the open ocean

• Bulgarian: мъртво вълнение n (mǎrtvo vǎlnenie)
• Finnish: perusmaininki; groundswell (surfers' slang)
• French: lame de fond (fr) f
• German: Grunddünung f, Grundströmung f
• Irish: múisceán m
• Russian: нака́т (ru) m (nakát)

Further reading

• “groundswell”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.