stopper n DC ~ Lab (1771) for sense 1; OED sb 10: ~ net (Nfld: 1792); DC ~ net Lab (1861).
1 A net used to catch seals migrating in coastal waters; STOP n: STOP NET, See also SEAL NET.
[1770] 1792 CARTWRIGHT i, 64 The whole consist[s] of twelve shoal nets, of forty fathoms by two; and three stoppers, of a hundred and thirty fathoms by six. 1972 SANGER 241 ~ A trap used to catch seals on their coastal migration.
2 A bottle cap (P 266-64).
1976 Evening Telegram 19 June, p. 3 He used to be a dab hand at algebra [in school] and at nipping the stoppers off beer bottles with his teeth,
3 Comb stopper net: see sense 1 above.
1792 CARTWRIGHT Gloss i. xv ~ A large net for catching seals. which is made to fit the place in which it is fixed; the foot lies upon the ground, and the head floats on the surface of the water, by means of buoys. The farther end is made fast to an island (where there is one) or to the head-rope of a long net which is moored parallel to the shore, and the near end is raised or lowered at pleasure, by means of capstans. Several of these nets being placed at certain distances from each other, form so many pounds. 1861 DE BOILIEU 87 There is another method of catching the seal by what is called the stopper-net. Under this process one net is permanently fixed across a small channel—say between two islands—and another, called the entrance-stopper, is placed about one hundred yards to the north, one end being fastened to the opposite island and the other end attached to a long piece of rope in such a way as to allow the net to sink entirely out of sight.
