An unlicensed drinking place; also an opium den.
1883. I have travelled over most of Europe, and have smoked opium in every joint in America, but never saw anything so curious as this, nor experienced any intoxication so fascinating yet so terrible as that of hashish.—H. H. Kane, ‘A Hashish-house in New York,’ Harper’s Mag., lxvii. p. 945/1 (Nov.). (N.E.D.)
1899. There were from sixty to eighty “joints” (i.e., illicit liquor places) in the city, and that the revenue from the breaches of the liquor law formed a “very considerable” part of the city receipts.—Rowntree and Sherwell, ‘Temperance Problem,’ p. 197. (N.E.D.)
1909. Scouts were sent [from Kansas City, Kas.] into every “joint” in the county to gather evidence.—N.Y. Ev. Post, Jan. 28.
