varnish

coffin varnish

Alcohol, especially that which has been illegally prepared. Don't give me any more of that coffin varnish, or I'll be drunk in no time! My grandad was notorious for supplying the whole region with coffin varnish during Prohibition. Be careful with that stuff. My uncle Hector went blind from drinking too much coffin varnish.

See also: coffin, varnish

tonsil paint

dated slang Liquor, especially cheap whiskey. The hard-boiled detective sat sipping tonsil paint at the seedy dive bar, waiting for his informant to arrive. Give the man some tonsil paint to deaden the pain till a doctor can be fetched.

See also: paint, tonsil

tonsil varnish

dated slang Liquor, especially cheap whiskey. The hard-boiled detective sat sipping tonsil varnish at the seedy dive bar, waiting for his informant to arrive. Give the man some tonsil varnish to deaden the pain till a doctor can be fetched.

See also: tonsil, varnish

varnished

slang Drunk. Tom's out getting varnished on moonshine with his buddies. She was too varnished to drive home, so I let her sleep on the futon.

See also: varnish

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

coffin varnish

n. inferior liquor. You want some more of this coffin varnish?

See also: coffin, varnish

tonsil paint

and tonsil varnish

n. liquor; whiskey. The cowboy had to have his daily dose of tonsil paint before he stuffed his face full of beans and hardtack. This tonsil varnish would take the paint off a barn.

See also: paint, tonsil

tonsil varnish

verb

See tonsil paint

See also: tonsil, varnish

varnished

mod. alcohol intoxicated. (see also shellacked.) Really varnished, he was. Couldn’t see a hole in a ladder.

See also: varnish

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.