John Barleycorn

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noun

a personification of barley as used in malt liquor, of malt liquor itself, or of any intoxicating liquor.

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Origin of John Barleycorn

First recorded in 1610–20

Words nearby John Barleycorn

johannes, Johannesburg, Johannes Damascenus, Johannine, john, John Barleycorn, John Bircher, John Birch Society, johnboat, John Brown's Body, John Bull

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use John Barleycorn in a sentence

A few years back, designer John Galliano was fined by the government for sharing just such anti-semitic sentiments in public.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead|Luke O’Neil|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
NEW ORLEANS — John Boehner was reelected House Speaker yesterday by his Republican colleagues despite some dissenting members.
The Price of Steve Scalise’s Silence|Jason Berry|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And similar shards of enthusiasm-killing kryptonite are lodged in John Kasich, Mike Pence and Ted Cruz.
Why This Liberal Hearts Huckabee|Sally Kohn|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As it currently stands, the Via Dolorosa follows the account given in the Gospel of John.
Oops! Jesus’ Last Steps Are in the Wrong Place|Candida Moss|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST

By contrast, John McCain, the eventual GOP nominee, had raised approximately $12.7 million in the first quarter of 2007 alone.
Can Huckabee Convert the GOP’s Moneymen?|Lloyd Green|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
After all, may not even John Burns be human; may not Mr. Chamberlain himself have a heart that can feel for another?
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
Hamo in alluding to the early cultivation of tobacco by the colony, says, that John Rolfe was the pioneer tobacco planter.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
John Wilson, a celebrated landscape and marine painter, died at Folkstone, aged 81.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
John Thornton Kirkland, president of Harvard university, died, aged 70.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
John was baptizing at a large pool called Ænon-by-Saleim,—probably allegorical, meaning “Fountain of Repose.”
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway

British Dictionary definitions for John Barleycorn

John Barleycorn

noun

usually jocular the personification of alcohol, esp of malt spirits

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012