juke joint

noun

: a small inexpensive establishment for eating, drinking, or dancing to the music of a jukebox or a live band

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web This year’s other Blues Hall of Fame honorees include four Chicago bluesmen (Carey Bell, John Primer, Snooky Pryor and Fenton Robinson) and a Mississippi juke joint king (Junior Kimbrough). Paul Grein, Billboard, 15 Mar. 2023 Melrose grew up far from the Louisiana juke joints where Spanish music was played or the cotton fields where the blues were sung. Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2023 As Hattie Mae, a laundress, midwife, healer, juke joint owner, and the bedrock of the story, Vann’s character spends much of her time defending her Black sons in a Jim Crow-era small town in Georgia during the ‘30s and ‘40s. Jasmin Hernandez, refinery29.com, 24 Jan. 2023 There are tableaux dedicated to Wild Bill Hickok, to the captain’s cabin of the Flying Dutchman, to a Southern juke joint Beerits once visited in Clarksdale, Miss., and — yes — to King Arthur. Howard Fishman, Washington Post, 31 Aug. 2022 He was influenced by the sounds emanating from Haney's Big House, a Black juke joint owned by his rich uncle Lee (who consequently may have allowed the underage Lewis the run of the place). Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 6 Nov. 2022 There are other complications — with the juke joint Bayou's beloved mother (Amirah Vann) has been left to run, and the bad stuff Willie Earl keeps shooting into his veins — that Jazzman unfurls between languid, hip-swaying musical numbers. Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 23 Sep. 2022 The multipart piece memorializes childhood summer trips from his home in Chicago to visit family in Mississippi, where an uncle operated a candy store out of a double-wide trailer, which became a juke joint at night. New York Times, 4 Aug. 2022 Proprietor Red Paden presides over this tiny juke joint in Clarksdale, a Delta city with as strong a claim to the blues as anywhere in the region. Jim Beaugez, Rolling Stone, 1 Aug. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'juke joint.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of juke joint was in 1937

Dictionary Entries Near juke joint

Cite this Entry

“Juke joint.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juke%20joint. Accessed 28 May. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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