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."

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.

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.

A homemade drink high in alcohol. Also less commonly known as boomshine