bootleg

[boot-leg]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bootleg ON THESAURUS.COM

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 bootlegger

moonshiner, rumrunner

Examples from the Web for bootlegger

Contemporary Examples of bootlegger

The National Football League's New York Giants franchise was founded in 1925 by a bootlegger named Tim Mara.
Will a Criminal Enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Evan Weiner
February 1, 2014
He seeks to clear up some myths about Kennedy—he was, for instance, never a bootlegger—and offer a truthful portrait of the man.
“The Patriarch”: Joseph Kennedy Sr.’s Outsized Life
Jacob Heilbrunn
November 21, 2012

Historical Examples of bootlegger

"My dear sir," said the bootlegger, with a pained expression.
Jokes For All Occasions
Anonymous
Soon he saw that he was flying faster than the bootlegger ahead of him.
The Flying Reporter
Lewis E. (Lewis Edwin) Theiss
It seemed to him that he simply must look around and face the bootlegger.
The Flying Reporter
Lewis E. (Lewis Edwin) Theiss
Are you fellows going to let him in on the bootlegger stuff?
The Radio Detectives
A. Hyatt Verrill
It was Hugh's first visit to a bootlegger's den, and he was keenly interested.
The Plastic Age
Percy Marks

British Dictionary definitions for bootlegger

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 bootlegger

1889, from bootleg (q.v.).

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.