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definitions

bootlegged

[boot-legd]
See more synonyms for bootlegged on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. bootleg.

Origin of bootlegged

see origin at bootleg, -ed3

bootleg

[boot-leg]
noun
  1. alcoholic liquor unlawfully made, sold, or transported, without registration or payment of taxes.
  2. the part of a boot that covers the leg.
  3. 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.
  1. to deal in (liquor or other goods) unlawfully.
verb (used without object), boot·legged, boot·leg·ging.
  1. to make, transport, or sell something, especially liquor, illegally or without registration or payment of taxes.
adjective
  1. made, sold, or transported unlawfully.
  2. illegal or clandestine.
  3. 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. 2018

Related Words for bootlegged

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

Examples from the Web for bootlegged

Contemporary Examples of bootlegged

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
  1. to make, carry, or sell (illicit goods, esp alcohol)
noun
  1. something made or sold illicitly, such as alcohol during Prohibition in the US
  2. an illegally made copy of a CD, tape, etc
adjective
  1. 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

n.

"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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper