moonshine

[ moon-shahyn ]

/ ˈmunˌʃaɪn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR moonshine ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Informal. smuggled or illicitly distilled liquor, especially corn liquor as illicitly distilled chiefly in rural areas of the southern U.S.

empty or foolish talk, ideas, etc.; nonsense.

the light of the moon; moonlight.

RELATED WORDS

bootleg, firewater, hooch, rotgut

Nearby words

moonroof, moonscape, moonseed, moonset, moonshee, moonshine, moonshiner, moonshot, moonstone, moonstruck, moonwalk

Origin of moonshine

1375–1425; late Middle English: moonlight. See moon, shine¹,

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for moonshine

He wrote a few more paperback originals, two of them westerns, then sold The Moonshine War to Doubleday in hardcover.
Elmore Leonard’s Rocky Road to Fame and Fortune|Mike Lupica|September 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Gambling, girls; you could buy a pint of moonshine for a dime, store-bought whiskey for a quarter.
Stanley Booth on the Life and Hard Times of Blues Genius Furry Lewis|Stanley Booth|June 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Daryl, insulted, smashes it to bits and finds her moonshine instead.
The Walking Dead’s Killer Diva Emily Kinney on Daryl and ‘Expired Love’|Melissa Leon|March 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I will not even say it is all moonshine, for it is something better.
The Trees of Pride|G.K. Chesterton

But there is the moonshine still, serene, beneficent, and unchanged.
The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, Volume VI, Familiar Letters|Henry David Thoreau
At last the ruined towers of Bellinzona stood gleaming in the moonshine, and we rattled into the great post-yard.
Italian Hours|Henry James
It is a necktie with a picture like whiteface pony spots on a green frog swimming in the moonshine.
Rootabaga Stories|Carl Sandburg
The money you think to make may turn out all moonshine, you know.
Johnny Ludlow, Fourth Series|Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for moonshine

moonshine

/ (ˈmuːnˌʃaɪn) /

noun

another word for moonlight (def. 1)

US and Canadian illegally distilled or smuggled whisky or other spirit

foolish talk or thought

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

moonshine

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of moonshine

Examples from the Web for moonshine

British Dictionary definitions for moonshine

moonshine

noun