or forty-rod lightning, subs. phr. (American).—Whiskey; specifically, spirit of so fiery a nature that it is calculated to kill at Forty Rods’ distance, i.e., on sight. Cf., ROT-GUT. For synonyms, see DRINKS and OLD MAN’S MILK. Cf., FLORIO (1598), Catoblepa, ‘a serpent in India so venomous that with his looke he kils a man a mile off.’
1884. S. L. CLEMENS (‘Mark Twain’), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, v. In the night sometime he got powerful thirsty and clumb out onto the porch-roof and slid down a stanchion and traded his new coat for a jug of FORTY-ROD.
