barrelhouse

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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From barrel +‎ house. Originally used to refer specifically to a bar that served whiskey directly from the barrel.

Noun

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barrelhouse (plural barrelhouses)

  1. A rough-and-tumble drinking establishment.
    • 2008 January 14, Ben Ratliff, “Jazz Showcase Fever Propels a Mini Marathon”, in New York Times[1]:
      It’s beautiful, but never naïvely so; the pastoral moments were offset by barrelhouse intrusions.
  2. (music) A loud, percussive type of blues piano suitable for noisy bars or taverns.
    • 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 18, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings[2], New York: Bantam, published 1971, page 111:
      A barrelhouse blues was being shouted over the stamping of feet on a wooden floor. Miss Grace, the good-time woman, had her usual Saturday-night customers.

Synonyms

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See also

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