bootlegged

[boot-legd]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bootlegged ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

bootleg.

Origin of bootlegged

see origin at bootleg, -ed³

bootleg

[boot-leg]

noun

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), boot·legged, boot·leg·ging.

to deal in (liquor or other goods) unlawfully.

verb (used without object), boot·legged, boot·leg·ging.

to make, transport, or sell something, especially liquor, illegally or without registration or payment of taxes.

adjective

made, sold, or transported unlawfully.

illegal or clandestine.

of or relating to bootlegging.

Origin of bootleg

1625–35, Americanism; boot¹ + leg; secondary senses arose from practice of hiding a liquor bottle in the leg of one's boot

Related formsboot·leg·ger, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bootlegged

contraband, illicit, unauthorized, pirated, bootleg, prohibited, hide, export, taboo, run, deal, moonshine, push, pirate, fence, relate, dicker, trade, touch, peddle

Examples from the Web for bootlegged

Contemporary Examples of bootlegged

The Chinese making money off bootlegged versions of Lincoln is most definitely not acceptable.
Bootleg Empire: America the Smuggler Nation
Cameron Martin
March 7, 2013

Historical Examples of bootlegged

He bootlegged upon a larger scale than do most of those pursuing this precarious avocation.
Sundry Accounts
Irvin S. Cobb

British Dictionary definitions for bootlegged

bootleg

verb -legs, -legging or -legged

to make, carry, or sell (illicit goods, esp alcohol)

noun

something made or sold illicitly, such as alcohol during Prohibition in the US

an illegally made copy of a CD, tape, etc

adjective

produced, distributed, or sold illicitlybootleg whisky; bootleg tapes

Derived Formsbootlegger, noun

Word Origin for bootleg

C17: see boot 1, leg; from the practice of smugglers of carrying bottles of liquor concealed in their boots

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bootlegged

bootleg

"leg of a boot," 1630s, from boot (n.1) + leg (n.). As an adjective in reference to illegal iquor, 1889, American English slang, from the trick of concealing a flask of liquor down the leg of a high boot. Before that the bootleg was the place to secret knives and pistols.