vbl. sb. [Origin unknown.] A method of taking seals: see quot. 1901.
1883. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. (ed. 4), 175. Swatching and Trolling Old Hoods.
1901. W. T. Grenfell in Blackw. Mag., Nov., 692/1. Many seals are taken by the process known as ‘swatching.’… On finding a clear piece of water, called a ‘pond,’ we built a shelter of ice, called a ‘gaze.’ Here one sits and waits till a seal puts up his head.
