General term for homemade, unaged (and therefore colorless) drinking alcohol. The term
came into use during the Prohibition
era in the United States when stills (homemade distilleries) throughout the southeast made liquor from
corn, potatoes, sugar and other available ingredients, in direct defiance of the law, in order to
meet the never-diminished demand.
Moonshine (see also "white lightning") as a term refers to the alcohol's clear, colorless potency.