rogue wave

plural rogue waves

1. hobbiesAn unexpected, dangerously large wave.

   Scientists still don't know exactly how rogue waves occur, nor do they know how to predict them.

   2010 March 4, Bryan Walsh, “Cruise-Ship Disaster: How Do ‘Rogue Waves’ Work?”, in Time, retrieved 28 Oct 2015

   2 more examples

   Then one giant crest spills green water over the bow and stops our 100-ton vehicle as though it had ploughed into a gargantuan hay bale. . . . The rogue wave our experimental 78-foot craft hit must have been well over 10 feet high.

   1974 June, Ben Kocivar, “75-knot ocean-going surface-effect ship”, in Popular Science, volume 204, number 6, retrieved 28 Oct 2015, page 91

   One of her owners, Mark Litchfield, was quoted by United Press International as saying a “rogue wave” might have knocked the ship over.

   1984 June 4, Robert D. McFadden, “18 Missing, 1 Dead and 9 Rescued as Tall Ship is Lost near Bermuda”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Oct 2015

   Synonyms: freak wave, monster wave, killer wave, episodic wave