Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. whisky.

1887		Daily Trib. (Bismarck, ND) 23 Oct. 4/1: Liquor is ‘dynamite,’ ‘lush’ [or] ‘bug juice.’.
1925		J. Tully Beggars of Life 15: ‘I got stewed in Chi, an’ was thrun outta Hinky Dink’s on my ear.’ [...] ‘That dynamite Hinky Dink sells ’ud make a hummin’ bird fly slow.’.
1936		R.F. Adams Cowboy Lingo 228: The Westerner’s names for whiskey were legion [...] ‘dynamite.’.
1967		E. Shepard Doom Pussy 50: Gulping dynamite till they were glassy-eyed.
1972		J.B. Keane Letters of Irish Parish Priest 24: Martin, my ole buddy, pour me a shot of the goddam dynamite. The dynamite was his undoing.

2. (drugs) heroin, morphine, esp. good-quality, highly potent drugs.

1924		G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 301: So powerful was the ‘kick’ of heroin that it was called ‘dynamite’.
1938		D. Maurer ‘Argot of the Und. Narcotic Addict’ Pt 2 in AS XIII:3 183/2: dynamite. 1. Bootleg dope with an unusually high narcotic content.
1952		Hal Ellson Golden Spike 93: I thought that stuff was dynamite you had?
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 468: S‘elling the goddam lemon [i.e. fake heroin] to that little girl [...] I’d of kicked your ass so hard you’d have shit a bag of genuine dynamite’.

3. (drugs) cocaine.

1933		Ersine Und. and Prison Sl.
1953		Anslinger & Tompkins Traffic In Narcotics 308: dynamite. [...] cocaine.
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.
1981		D.E. Miller Bk of Jargon 337: dynamite: Cocaine.

4. (US prison) a form of ersatz ‘snuff’ used by convicts; it is made of tobacco, soda, salt and sugar.

1933

Ersine Und. and Prison Sl.

5. (Aus.) baking powder [it makes things ‘blow up’].

1897		‘6x8’ [Dick Holt] in Bulletin (Sydney) 7 Aug. red page/3: Baking Powder - ‘Dynamite.’ Common through- out the bush. It makes things ‘rise’.
1900–10		Stephens & O’Brien Materials for a Dict. of Aus. Sl. [unpub. ms.].
1945		Baker Aus. Lang. 82: Here are a few general terms: [...] dynamite, baking powder.
1955		N. Pulliam I Travelled a Lonely Land (1957) 217: ‘What’s a damper?’ I asked [...] ‘Bread, in a way. Flour, salt, water, a little dynamite [baking powder] if you’ve got it.’.

6. (drugs, also dynamiter) hashish or marijuana; and as a prepared ‘joint’.

1949		Hal Ellson Duke 53: When I carry this dynamite I watch everything. I’m a real careful guy.
1958		W. Motley Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1959) 118: The good stuff, in its round cylinders of cigarettes, he stacked in one pile: dynamites.
1959		Murtagh & Harris Who Live In Shadow (1960) 88: A speedball cap at three dollars and ‘Dynamiters,’ extra strong reefers, at one dollar each.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS 168/2: dynamite Marijuana or heroin, esp. a marijuana cigarette.
1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972).
1981		D.E. Miller Bk of Jargon 341: dynamite: [...] 2. Potent marijuana.
1999		J. Stahl Perv (2001) 252: Have a stick of dynamite.
1999		R.G. Barrett Wind & Monkey (2013) [ebook] [H]e knew how to grow good pot. So between the Jamaican seeds and Warren’s expertise, the end result was pure, stepping dynamite.

7. (drugs) a mixture of cocaine and morphine/heroin.

1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 64/2: Dynamite, n. [...] a combination of cocaine and morphine.
1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970) 88: dynamite (1) cocaine and heroin taken in combination.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 8: Dynamite — Cocaine mixed with heroin.

8. (US short order) buttermilk.

1966

in Newark Advocate (OH) 21 May 3/3–4: dynamite -- buttermilk.

9. (drugs) any pure, undiluted drugs.

1966		J. Mills Panic in Needle Park (1971) 12: Not just any connection, but a connection who deals good quality stuff — ‘dynamite,’ not ‘garbage’.
1981		D.E. Miller Bk of Jargon 341: dynamite: 1. High potency (less diluted) heroin. [...] 3. Any potent drug (also an adjective, as ‘some dynamite Colombian.’).
1995		L. Stavsky et al. A2Z 31/2: dynamite – n. pure drugs: Know what that dynamite’s worth on the street.