Meanings
plural six o'clock swills
- AustraliaNew ZealandhistoricalThe last-minute rush to buy alcohol at a bar before it closed at 6pm.
Licensing laws in Australia were finally relaxed in 1967, bringing an end to the infamous six o'clock swill and encouraging people to eat out.
2003, Nicholas Faith, chapter 7, in Australia's Liquid Gold, Hachette UK, →ISBN1 more example
The six o'clock swill was the male ritual of consuming as many beers as possible in the hour before hotels and pubs closed at six o'clock. Early closing was introduced during World War One, when wartime patriotism and austerity and a general temperance mood impelled its introduction.
2007, D. Kirkby, T. Luckins, Dining On Turtles: Food Feasts and Drinking in History, Springer, →ISBN, page 93
Cite this entry
six o'clock swill. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/six%20o'clock%20swill
“six o'clock swill.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/six%20o'clock%20swill. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “six o'clock swill,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/six%20o'clock%20swill.
Source: six o'clock swill on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.