bathtub gin
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈbæθˌtʌb dʒɪn/
- NSFW
:
ginebra casera
- - ♪ Imbibing quarts of bathtub gin ♪ - Bronchitis.
Examples
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If I ever had a kid, she wouldn't go around with a dress up to her ass, smoking cigarettes, lapping up bathtub gin and running off at the mouth like a whorehouse toilet.
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You know, Betsy, bathtub gin?
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People from the most respectable walks of life... dance and drink bathtub gin.
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During Prohibition, how many were killed or became blind because of bathtub gin?
Blog text (24) -
The Boss is in a gorgeous old-fashioned study, complete with a wood desk, pool table, bathtub gin, and a blank-looking attractive young assistant.
Blog text (27) -
The bathtub gin the Hounds had contributed wasn't much better, but at least it was mixed with ersatz orange drink, which made it almost palatable.
Fiction book (1991) -
During Prohibition, many people turned to homemade bathtub gin to quench their thirst for alcohol.
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In speakeasies, patrons would often sip on bathtub gin, despite the risks involved in its production.
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The infamous bathtub gin of the Prohibition era was notorious for being poorly made and sometimes dangerous to drink.
Synonyms
104
1.2
A clear alcoholic drink flavored with juniper berries and other plants
19
7.9
Alcohol illegally made at home, often strong whiskey
10
8.4
Alcohol made and sold illegally, often secretly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'bathtub gin' directly combines 'bathtub' (a container/place) and 'gin' (an alcoholic spirit), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to gin made in a bathtub — i.e. homemade or illicitly produced. This is a straightforward noun+noun composition indicating production location; the specific Prohibition-era historical context is additional background but not necessary to derive the core meaning.
Etymology
Bathtub gin comes from the 1920s in the US, when making or selling alcohol was illegal. One popular story says people mixed cheap, homemade gin in their bathtub or used the tub to hide bottles, so the image of gin made in a bathtub explains why the phrase means 'homemade' or 'illegal' gin.