shebeen

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Irish síbín.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ʃɪˈbiːn/
• Rhymes: -iːn

Noun

shebeen (plural shebeens)

1. An unlicensed drinking establishment, especially in Ireland, Scotland, and South Africa.
   • 1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage, published 1998, page 178:

     ‘Well, let's line,’ he said to Ben. ‘We can fill up at a shebeen.’

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 88:

     On almost every corner there were shebeens, illegal saloons that were shacks where home-brewed beer was served.

   • 2007 April 14, Ed Vulliamy, “Absolute MacInnes”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     […] while across Ladbroke Grove, on the mainly black side, the Rio cafe into which I self-consciously tiptoed occasionally became the Mangrove restaurant, and All Saints Road the shebeen and dope-dealing capital of London, under the hammer of the police.

   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 146:

     Every night and day there were bombs and gunshots and riots and roundups, and it didn't take long to gain access to the bars and shebeens where these things were discussed with a certain knowingness.

Alternative forms

• shibbeen

Descendants

• → Afrikaans: sjebeen
• → Xhosa: ishibhini

Verb

shebeen (third-person singular simple present shebeens, present participle shebeening, simple past and past participle shebeened)

1. (intransitive) To operate an unlicensed drinking establishment.

See also

• blind pig
• blind tiger
• speakeasy

Anagrams

• benshee