sish n, imit also swish [phonetics unavailable]. DC ~ (ice) Nfld (1887-), swish ice Nfld (1835); cp OED swish sb 2 'dash of water' for sense 3.
1 Fine, granulated ice floating on the surface of the sea; brash ice; attrib in sish ice, swish ~ cp SLOB ICE.
1836 [WIX]2 18 [The bay] was full of a species of ice, significantly called by the people, 'swish-ice,' which, when struck with the oar, makes a sound similar to that of straw when thrashed with a stick. 1873 CARROLL 19 No matter how thin the ice is during whelping time, seals are sure to whelp on it as long as it will bear their
weight. as every moment it will be getting stronger as the 'slob' or 'sish' ice drifts off the land, or drifts in from the sea against the shore, pressing such ice together. 1887 BOND 116 [There was] a slight coating of 'sish' or ice-scum on the harbour. 1895 J A Folklore viii, 40 Swish ice—ice ground fine. [c1900] 1978 RLS 8, p. 24 ~ broken up ice between pans from action of sea knocking them together. 1909 GRENFELL1 7 The sish ice consists of the tiny fragments where the large pans have been pounding together on the heaving sea, like the stone of Freya's grinding mill. 1937 DEVINE 33 Lolly—said of the sea surface on a calm day just before it freezes into 'sish.' T 191-65 An' they got into this sish, an' it could hardly bear the boat, so 'twas so slippery with their boots on, they hauled [them] off.
2 A thin layer of ice newly formed on the surface of the sea; ICE-RIND, LOCAL: local ice.
1909 BERNIER 7 ~ thin new ice just formed in thin sheets. P 245-76 What I call sish—overnight ice.
3 Sound of rushing water.
1960 FUDGE 33 The sish, sish of the rushing sea passing swiftly by her lee as she pulls her sleek hull through the [water] brought dreams of home and loved ones.
