swiler Newfoundland.
(ˈswaɪlə(r))
[f. swile v. + -er1.]
1. = sealer n.2 2.
| 1883 Hatton & Harvey Newfoundland 88 The roads..begin to be enlivened by the appearance of the sealers, or, as they are called in the vernacular, ‘silers’, their enterprise being designated ‘swile huntin'’. 1927 in Dict. Newfoundland Eng. (1982) 455/1 We are swoilers fearless, bold. 1958 M. Harrington Sea Stories from Newfoundland 118 She sailed..with Skipper Ned Dower in command, and a crew of able ‘swoilers’. 1976 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 27 Nov. 35/3 It's the swoilers of Newfoundland and the pea-soupers of Quebec, symbols of cultures that in their turn have been despised for different reasons. |
2. = sealer n.2 1.
| 1897 B. Willson Tenth Island 110 When the ‘swiler’ came to start I give my place to another man. 1900 in Oliver & Burke People's Songster 46 The interest of all the people was centred on the ‘swoilers’. 1959 in Ryan & Small Haulin' Rope & Gaff 70 You'll need no Daylight Bill When a ‘swiler’ first is sighted From the tower upon the ‘Hill’. |