bootleg
Americannoun
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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)
verb (used without object)
adjective
-
made, sold, or transported unlawfully.
-
illegal or clandestine.
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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
- bootlegger noun
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
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.
My TV habit included rental-store tapes of bootlegged movies and shows dubbed from American TV.
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.
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
Look for X’s John Doe as a purveyor of bootleg caviar.
From Los Angeles Times
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
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.
