bathtub gin
noun
: a homemade spirit concocted from raw alcohol, water, essences, and essential oils
Examples of bathtub gin in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Burnett leaned into the character’s drinking habit, hiccupping through Miss Hannigan’s swigs from a bottle of bathtub gin.
—
Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
It is known for its refreshing notes of honey and lemon, which balance out the immense spice of bathtub gin.
—Bianca Salonga, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024
As alcohol bans lingered, poorer quality substitutes increasingly overwhelmed the black market: bathtub gin, pure grain alcohol and other rotguts.
—David Reamer | Alaska History, Anchorage Daily News, 23 July 2023
But states also didn’t massively increase the price of newly legal alcohol to make bathtub gin more attractive.
—Jonathan Turley, WSJ, 23 Sep. 2022
Grosz, Dix, Duchamp, Prohibition, bathtub gin, Gatsby, the League of Nations, the Red Scare.
—Jeff MacGregor, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 May 2022
The Roaring Twenties weren’t all about flappers and bathtub gin.
—Vogue, 13 Apr. 2022
Bundles questions the veracity of one prevalent anecdote that alleges her great-grandmother saddled white party guests with chitterlings and bathtub gin while her Black guests enjoyed champagne and caviar.
—Mayukh Sen, Bon Appétit, 14 Oct. 2021
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Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
It is known for its refreshing notes of honey and lemon, which balance out the immense spice of bathtub gin.
—Bianca Salonga, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024
As alcohol bans lingered, poorer quality substitutes increasingly overwhelmed the black market: bathtub gin, pure grain alcohol and other rotguts.
—David Reamer | Alaska History, Anchorage Daily News, 23 July 2023
But states also didn’t massively increase the price of newly legal alcohol to make bathtub gin more attractive.
—Jonathan Turley, WSJ, 23 Sep. 2022
Grosz, Dix, Duchamp, Prohibition, bathtub gin, Gatsby, the League of Nations, the Red Scare.
—Jeff MacGregor, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 May 2022
The Roaring Twenties weren’t all about flappers and bathtub gin.
—Vogue, 13 Apr. 2022
Bundles questions the veracity of one prevalent anecdote that alleges her great-grandmother saddled white party guests with chitterlings and bathtub gin while her Black guests enjoyed champagne and caviar.
—Mayukh Sen, Bon Appétit, 14 Oct. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Bathtub gin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bathtub%20gin. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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