Meaning

(literally) The light of the moon..

Definitions by Sense

1. (literally) The light of the moon.
2. (informal) High-proof alcohol (especially whiskey) that is often, but not always, produced illegally.
3. (UK, dialectal, archaic) Smuggled spirits, often with a specific sense; (Kent, Sussex) white brandy; (Yorkshire) gin.
4. (uncountable, informal) Nonsense.
5. (mathematics, uncountable) A branch of pure mathematics relating the Monster group to an invariant of elliptic functions.
6. (US, cooking) A spiced dish of eggs and fried onions.
7. (obsolete) A month.
8. (intransitive) To make homemade (especially, illicit) alcohol, especially distilled spirits.

Example Sentences

[…] O Nymph more bright than moon-ſhine night, like Kidlings blithe and merry […]

[…] her Waggon Spokes made of long Spinners legs: the Couer of the wings of Graſhoppers, her Traces of the ſmalleſt Spiders web, her coullers of the Moonſhines watry Beames […]

[…] the newes coming every moment of the growth of the fire; so as we were forced to begin to pack up our owne goods; and prepare for their removal; and did by moonshine (it being brave dry, and moonshine, and warm weather) carry much of my goods into the garden […]

[…] I have been in an Ague fit, ever ſince ſhut of Evening; what with the fright of Trees by the High-way, which look'd maliciouſly like Thieves, by Moon-ſhine: and what with Bulruſhes by the River-ſide, that ſhak'd like Spears, and Lances at me.

In mist or cloud on mast or shroud / It perch’d for vespers nine, / Whiles all the night thro’ fog smoke-white / Glimmer’d the white moon-shine.

So I came forth of the sea and sat down on the edge of an island in the moonshine, where a passer-by found me and, carrying me to the his house, besought me of love-liesse; but I smote him on the head, so that he all but died; whereupon he carried me forth and sold me to the merchant from whom thou hadst me, […]

“[…] it would be lovely to sleep in a wild cherry-tree all white with bloom in the moonshine, don’t you think? […]”

They watered down the moonshine.

Word Forms

• moonshines
• moon-shine
• moonshining
• moonshined

Synonyms for moonshine

Related Words

When Should You Use Moonshine?

Use moonshine when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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