to moonshine
9.1
To make alcohol illegally, usually at home, by heating and collecting the drink
- verb
- /ˈmuːnʃaɪn/
- NSFW
- He learned to moonshine in the woods, following his grandfather's secret recipes.
Examples
-
During Prohibition, many people began to moonshine in order to make a profit from illegal liquor.
-
To avoid the authorities, they decided to moonshine only at night under the cover of darkness.
-
You're gonna have to go live somewhere else, and you ain't never gonna moonshine...
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
How Illegal
Surface Forms
moonshine infinitive
moonshined past
moonshined past participle
moonshining present participle
moonshines third person singular
Etymology
Moonshine as a verb comes from the same idea of working by the moon and its shine, or 'moonlight', to hide from the law, so to moonshine is to make illegal alcohol, often at night.