as in alcohol
illegally produced liquor
college students secretly mixing up a batch of white lightning in the school lab
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Recent Examples of white lightning
Don’t let the green mist tinged with white lightning and rotating cosmic orifices fool you, however: Ingesting psychedelic drugs is not recommended before watching this film.
—
Katie Rife, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2025
Above the patch is another white lightning bolt.
—Omari Sankofa Ii, Detroit Free Press, 1 Nov. 2021
One, the stereotype is as dated as Moon Pies and white lightning.
—Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 11 June 2020
Katie Rife, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2025
Above the patch is another white lightning bolt.
—Omari Sankofa Ii, Detroit Free Press, 1 Nov. 2021
One, the stereotype is as dated as Moon Pies and white lightning.
—Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 11 June 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for white lightning
Noun
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Of course, the bags don’t actually hide anything; in fact, they are reserved specifically for, and definitively signal, the drinking of alcohol.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
14 Oct. 2025
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Brian reportedly had 187 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood while being examined after her death.—
Abigail Adams,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Later, when Doyle comes into some mysterious bags of cash, and heads toward the mainland with a bottle of booze, a boat, and one last chance to go out in a blaze of self-immolation, Farrell manages to mix dread and adrenaline into every silent expression.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
14 Oct. 2025
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Raw, sweaty, and steeped in debauchery, the track chronicles a spiral of booze, heartbreak, and nights lost in a haze of resistol fumes, all layered with his signature gritty rap flow.—
Tere Aguilera,
Billboard,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Down the block La Labo is opening, but also next to us is a bootleg flower shop out of this woman’s home.—
Ryma Chikhoune,
Footwear News,
11 Oct. 2025
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Latu’s pressure off the edge disrupted Smith’s timing on what was supposed to be a play-action bootleg pass, so much so that Smith never actually threw the ball.—
James Boyd,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“White lightning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/white%20lightning. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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