moonshiner n.
1. (orig. US, also shiner) a distiller of contraband liquor, usu. whisky.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Dly Delta (New Orleans, LA) 8 Nov. 1/4: Moonshiners in Danger. The following [...] leaves us in anxiety for the fate of the great moonshine conspirators. | |
| Old Friends 31: The moonshiners had no cargo to defend [OED]. | |
| N.Y. Eve. Post 16 June 404: Nelson County, Kentucky, is the home of the Moonshiner; that is, the manufacturer of illicit whiskey . | |
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 25 Sept. 11/4: The distillery was discovered and the ‘moonshiner’ was put in the prison jail. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Bristol Magpie 7 Sept. 17/1: The ‘moonshiners’ are about the only persons who have succeeded in keeping a secret still. | |
| Alexander Co. Jrnl (Taylorsville, NC) 20 June 3/2: When enough [illicitly distilled whisky] has been made the ’shiners almost invariably have a big spree. | |
| Caldwell Trib. (ID) 20 June 7/2: Alligator Sam had lived among the Georgia moonshiners in days gone by. | |
| Mirror of Life 13 Jan. 16/1: Someone has given information that Reub Bush is a moonshiner. | |
| Sun (NY) 10 Apr. 26/2: ‘I am the real King of the Kentucky ’shiners. [...] I have been making the stuff since i was a boy’. | |
| Tales of the Ex-Tanks 209: The moonshiners [...] figured me out as a revenue sharp. | |
| Confessions of a Detective 41: If one of ’em was to inform on a moonshiner, he’d get beaten to a jelly some dark night. | |
| Sun (NY) 1 June 67/8: The moonshiners raise their own corn to be used in making whiskey. | |
| Keys to Crookdom 278: The battle rages just as briskly with bootleggers who sell the illicit product and with moonshiners who manufacture it in hidden stills. [Ibid.] 288: Moonshiners, as a rule, confine their activities to making brandy and whisky, but there are certain sections of the country where some very rich and powerful men are engaged in wine manufacture. | |
 | Advocate-Messenger (Danville, KY) 5 Mar. 1/5: [headline] U.S. Marshall Receives Curious Missive from Man Wanted as ’Shiner. | |
| Awake and Sing! II i: Don’t bother with Kentucky. It’s full of moonshiners. | |
| Rocky Mt. Telegram (NC) 14 Aug. 21/7: [headline] Revenue Agents Hunt ‘Shiners’. | |
| ‘Argot of the Moonshiner’ AS XXIV:1 4: This moonshiner of the Eastern mountains is as lethal as a water moccasin. | |
| Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS) 6 Dec. 6/1: The game of wits never ends between the agents and the ’shiners. | |
| Mad mag. Spring 24: Real Kentucky moonshiners will make real moonshine right here. | |
| Battle Creek Enquirer (MI) 13 Jan. 15/2: Shiner says his product sells for $6 a gallon. | |
| Riot (1967) 65: He was skimming the mushrooming foam from the cauldron, his ears tuned to a steady stream of advice from the old, leather-faced ex-moonshiner. | |
| Stand On It (1979) 158: A couple of moonshiners were passing. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchen) 4 May 46/2: ‘Ah, but it was fun,’ recalled a former shiner. | |
| (con. c.1967) Firefight 7: Jus’ like moonshiners back home. Hot damn, you can see their fires by night. | |
| Night People 27: An infamous safe house for thieves, moonshiners and killers on the run. | |
| Courier-Jrnl (Louisville, KY) 19 Mar. D1/2: The ‘shiners’ will share the history, tradition and culture of moonshining. | |
| August Snow [ebook] ‘Wow. Lesbians and moonshiners [...] Life on the edge’. |
2. (S.Afr.) a dealer in illicit goods.
![[SA]](/static/img/flags/sa.png "South Africa") | Crime in S. Afr. 107: A ‘moonshiner’ is one who deals in illicit goods. |