John BarleycornJohn Bar‧ley‧corn /ˌdʒɒn ˈbɑːlikɔːn $ ˌdʒɑːn ˈbɑːrlikɔːrn/ noun [uncountable] literary old-fashionedthe personification (=the representation of a thing as a person, in literature or art) of alcoholic drink, especially strong drinks such as whisky