Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

moonshiner's turn

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: moon-shin-er's -turn
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

15

Letters

4

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A rapid illegal U-turn performed by putting the car in neutral and applying the hand brake, thereby producing a controlled skid, with the car still moving backwards when forward power is again applied.

American usage; Colloquial

Example Sentences

"Did you see the moonshiner’s turn he pulled in that chase scene?"
"One sure way to cause an accident is with your basic "moonshiner's" or "bootlegger's" turn. Whiz down the road at about sixty or seventy, throw the gearshift into neutral, cut the wheel to the left, and hit the emergency brake with one good wallop while holding the brake release out with your left hand."

Etymology

Used by moonshiners to evade authorities during Prohibition.

Usage

American usage
Colloquial

Inflected Forms

moonshiners' turns (plural)

Synonyms

bootlegger reverse handbrake turn

Questions

What does moonshiner's turn mean?: A rapid illegal U-turn performed by putting the car in neutral and applying the hand brake, thereby producing a controlled skid, with the car still moving backwards when forward power is again applied.
Where does moonshiner's turn come from?: Used by moonshiners to evade authorities during Prohibition.

How to pronounce moonshiner's turn

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