bottled lightningn.
/ˌbɒtld ˈlʌɪtnɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌbɑdəld ˈlaɪtnɪŋ/ 1. Any strong, esp. low quality, alcoholic drink; = lightning n. 2. Now somewhat rare.
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > gin > [noun]
bottled lightning1713
gin1713
royal bob1722
diddle1725
strike-fire1725
tittery1725
max1728
maxim1739
strip-me-naked1751
eye-water1755
sky blue1755
lightning1781
Jacky1800
ribbon1811
Daffy's elixir1821
sweet-stuff1835
tiger's milk1850
juniper1857
cream of the wilderness1858
satin1864
Twankay1900
panther1931
mother's ruin1933
needle and pin1937
1713 Stage: a Poem 22 Hard by a Quart of bottled Light'ning lies.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xlix. 489 Bring in the bottled lightning, a clean tumbler, and a corkscrew.
1875 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Daily Sentinel 31 Dec. 7/2 The young man sorrowfully surrendered his bottled lightning.
1907 Public Health Nov. 131 It was said to act like ‘bottled lightning’, intoxicating in small doses.
1920 Jersey Bull. 29 Dec. 3486/1 Some of the brethren..felt it necessary to anoint their throats on the inside with some bottled lightning.
2000 G. M. Roth in J. Canfield et al. Chicken Soup for Prisoner's Soul ii. 51 Jack had discovered the easy money of ‘running’ corn liquor. Unfortunately, he also developed a taste for the bottled lightning.
2.
a. Originally: electrical energy stored by a device such as a capacitor or battery. Later: the electrical power generated by a very powerful battery.
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1843 Daily Picayune (New Orleans) 16 Dec. These warriors..were invited by Capt. Stewart to take a shock from an electrifying machine...Bottled lightning!—‘The man that shades the sun’ turned pale when he heard of it!
1884 Leisure Hour Feb. 80/2 Before long men will run to and fro by means of a pint of bottled lightning under a go-cart.
2011 S. Fletcher (title) Bottled lightning: superbatteries, electric cars, and the new lithium economy.
b. figurative. Stored or concentrated energy, vitality, or dynamism. Also in like bottled lightning and variants: with great intensity or energy.
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the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [noun] > concentrated energy
bent1581
bottled lightning1899
1899 W. James Talks to Teachers 210 There are plenty of bottled-lightning temperaments in other countries, and plenty of phlegmatic temperaments here.
1927 Youth's Compan. 6 Jan. 3/1 He had to work like bottled lightning with the cork out.
1986 S. Penman Here be Dragons (1991) (U.K. ed.) ii. viii. 660 He was expecting some sort of resistance, but what he got was bottled lightning. The stallion shot forward..kicking out in a frenzy.
1991 Angeles Mar. 40/2 It can zap the retina like bottled lightning.
2006 Billboard 20 May 34/2 While live sets can be duds, this three-CD package detonates...Label it all bottled lightning.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1713