rip current

plural rip currents

1. A strong flow of surface water, away from the shore, that returns water from incoming waves.

   1995, University of California at Berkeley (editor), The New Wellness Encyclopedia, page 271, A break in the wave pattern or discoloration (usually caused by sand) can help you spot rip currents. It you get caught in one, however, don′t struggle, Swim with it, but angle toward the shore or bank.

   3 more examples

   It takes on complicated forms, including longshore currents, which set parallel to the beach, and rip currents, in which water carried shoreward by breaking waves finds its way back to deep water in fast, narrow jets. Longshore and rip current velocities may be as great as 3 knots.

   1988, John V. Noel, Jr., Knight′s Modern Seamanship, page 515

   Second, where longshore currents converge, rip currents form, carrying water and sediment outward, away from shore (fig. 2.6).

   1995, David M. Bush, Living With the Puerto Rico Shore, page 20

   Be careful in winter, when high surf and rip currents make swimming dangerous.

   2010, Jeanette Foster, Frommer′s Kauai, page 168

   Synonyms: rip, rip tide, riptide