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ballacater
[alteration of barricado < F barricade]
Nfld and E. Arctic
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Spelling variants:ballacarter; ballycadder; ballycater
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
n.
an ice mass formed by pans drifting to shore and being subjected to showers of freezing spray, eventually becoming barricades between the land and the water.
See: ballicater,barricade(def. 1),barricader,barricado(def. 1),ice barricade,ice-foot(def. 2),ice-wall,shore-ice(def. 3),bergy bit,clumper
Quotations
1906
The rocks were covered with ice, and the shore was bespread with large pans of ice, high and dry--in local phraseology, "balacadas."
1918
I remember once in Nain the slob ice had already made ballicaters. . . .
1952
We tore down hills, bolted and swerved round ballacaters.
1963
BALLYCATER, n. Ice formed by spray on the shore.