To make alcohol illegaly, usually by night.
Bill Bob: "Howdy Joe! We've been moonshining, want some?"
Joe: "OK! I love drinking that alcyhol"
*gulp* *gulp*
Joe: "OH SHIT, MY EYES!!!"
by Daishi January 8, 2004
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Moonshine is fermented, distilled ethanol. Depending on what you fermented, you get varying levels of toxic methanol. You can test for methanol by adding a little Moonshine to a borosilicate glass beaker or petri dish, adding boric acid or borax and some sulfuric acid, then burning it. If the flame turns green, then your Moonshine contains toxic methanol and it's not safe to drink, only safe for the laboratory. If the flame turns yellow and blue, it's just ethanol. If the fire turns red, you'll be dead because it has lead. Moonshine is fermented sugar.
I tested my Moonshine with the boric acid and sulfuric acid flame test! The fire was blue and yellow so it was safe and has no methanol or lead. It's just ethanol.
by HawaiianPunch1 October 11, 2022
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Moonshine is distilled drinking alcohol(ethanol). First, you ferment a sugary drink(by adding yeast). Then, you distill it. The trick is, distill slowly and collect and throw away the first few shots. The first few shots contain methanol, a toxic impurity which causes blindness, kidney failure, and even death. Then, continue to distill and collect that ethanol. Most moonshiners who forgot to throw away the methanol impurity found out the hard way. Now you can enjoy properly made moonshine. Moonshine is awesome!
by HawaiianPunch1 July 2, 2021
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Moonshine is illegally distilled homemade whisky, usually with a very high alcohol content. It got its name because it was normally distilled at night "by the light of the moon." Most moonshine is distilled in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.
The only reason that moonshine is illegal is because there anyone who distills spirits in the U.S. has to pay a federal tax. Moonshiners don't pay the tax. Local police usually ignore moonshiners because "they ain't hurtin' anyone."
by Silky Smooth January 27, 2004
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A homemade whiskey that is not aged and therefore is clear.

Moonshine, despite popular belief, did not originate during Prohibition. After the Revolutionary War, whiskey was among the items taxed highly to pay for the war. For this reason, poor farmers built stills in the wilderness, usually in the Appalachians, and distilled whiskey at night. Hence the name "moonshine."

Also contrary to what some may believe, moonshine itself does not cause blindness, brain damage, or any medical problems aside from those that all alcohol does. Poorly made moonshine distilled by amateurs during Prohibition was the cause of this. Many people intended to make easy money and so added things like embalming fluid to their whiskey.

Moonshine is currently illegal in the United States because of taxes. It also has an extremely high alcohol content, usually in the range of 160 proof.
My grandpa and I went up to the still last night to start a batch of moonshine.
by The Grim Creeper February 10, 2010
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When a barber messes up your hairline and cuts too far back
Your barber gave you a moonshine
by Creatle sane August 1, 2020
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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.
Moonshine ain't nothin' but sunshine that's been cooked down a little bit, Deputy.
by pt68 August 18, 2005
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