swatch n also swash.
1 Also: a stretch of weak ice.
1949 FITZGERALD 41 'Just slob haul to that open swash, out there to the north-northeast.' 1985 Terminology of Loggers 17 Swatch: a weak or open place on ice. 1986 FELTHAM 161 The sealers did not always follow a straight line, for it was often necessary to take advantage of stronger ice near the sides of the various islands or to detour around 'swatches.' [1987] QUINLAN 27 The slide ran over a swatch of bad ice [and the man was drowned].
