bootleg
Americannoun
-
alcoholic liquor unlawfully made, sold, or transported, without registration or payment of taxes.
-
the part of a boot that covers the leg.
-
something, as a recording, made, reproduced, or sold illegally or without authorization.
a flurry of bootlegs to cash in on the rock star's death.
verb (used with object)
-
bootlegs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bootlegged,
past participle, past
-
bootlegging
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
bootlegs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
bootlegged,
past participle, past
-
bootlegging
present participle
adjective
-
made, sold, or transported unlawfully.
-
illegal or clandestine.
-
of or relating to bootlegging.
verb
noun
-
something made or sold illicitly, such as alcohol during Prohibition in the US
-
an illegally made copy of a CD, tape, etc
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bootlegsimple
-
bootlegssimple
-
have bootleggedperfect
-
has bootleggedperfect
-
am bootleggingprogressive
-
are bootleggingprogressive
-
is bootleggingprogressive
-
have been bootleggingperfect progressive
-
has been bootleggingperfect progressive
Past
-
bootleggedsimple
-
had bootleggedperfect
-
was bootleggingprogressive
-
were bootleggingprogressive
-
had been bootleggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bootleg
An Americanism first recorded in 1625–35; boot 1 + leg; secondary senses arose from practice of hiding a liquor bottle in the leg of one's boot
Explanation
Use the adjective bootleg to describe something that is sold illegally, usually because it was stolen in the first place. If you download a movie on your computer and then sell it to a friend, it's a bootleg film. Bootleg is good for describing something that's stolen, smuggled, or pirated. You can use it as a verb, too, when you're talking about selling something illegal or obtained in a sneaky way, like secret recordings of a rock concert or contraband candy at summer camp. The word bootleg, which originally meant simply "the leg of a boot," refers to alcohol smugglers' trick of hiding flasks inside their boots.
Vocabulary lists containing bootleg
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For decades, record labels reigned despite the occasional bootleg tape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
Retatrutide is so effective that a gray market for bootleg versions of the drug, which hasn’t been approved for sale, has been thriving for more than two years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025
Even Cook bought bootleg copies of the song, some of which had been taped off his live sets on BBC Radio 1 and pressed to vinyl.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025
In between the tribute bands and memorabilia vendors, one of the big attractions was screenings of various rare or bootleg film footage, screened in cavernous hotel ballrooms.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2025
His shop sold all kinds of stuff, from hair-care products to body oils to bootleg clothes to African statues.
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
Patrick Mahomes is coming off knee surgery, and Andy Reid will need to scheme around what he can’t do yet, mainly moving out of the pocket on bootlegs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
“The Basement Tapes,” as they were eventually called, were among rock’s first bootlegs before being released officially — in part in 1975, and in a full six-CD set in 2014.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2023
By 2005, people were eagerly swapping bootlegs, demos and gossip on dedicated message boards.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2022
There are tour rehearsals, audio experiments, handwritten lyrics, stacks of Velvet Underground bootlegs and even Coney Island Mermaid Parade banners from 2010, when Reed and Anderson served as king and queen.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2022
But when I come out my bootlegs was full o' fish.
From The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 6 August 1906 by Various
But a growing number of fans say a crackdown on bootlegged merchandise is hampering that spirit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Indians are more likely to find bootlegged versions than to find them streaming on commercial platforms.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
Atlanta’s young quarterback, Desmond Ridder, bootlegged for a 6-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4 with just under 12 minutes remaining.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 17, 2023
“Absolutely Fabulous,” the British smash hit comedy that was once seen only in America by fans fabulous enough to have bootlegged videos, has taken a Concorde ride to cult status in the states.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2022
There is an ancient-looking air conditioner hanging on to the ledge of the bootlegged window, and the glass above the machine has been covered with a piece of decorative cloth.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
We have made a lot of experimental moves with the way we’ve released records — bootlegging stuff for free.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2025
Mr. Rapp, the prosecutor, said that Mr. Bout’s conviction had been a little like that of Al Capone, the Chicago mobster who was eventually jailed for tax evasion — not murder or bootlegging or racketeering.
From New York Times ● Dec. 14, 2022
To combat the bootlegging, his team chose to persuade major retailers to buy scrunchies from them rather than seek damages through litigation.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 19, 2022
Tribes across Alaska have courts that decide child protection, adoption cases, bootlegging and other cases, but their power over non-members is limited.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2022
“What could be more dangerous than a fake quarantine and a town-sponsored bootlegging operation?”
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
