bootlegger

American  

[boot-leg-er] / ˈbutˌlɛg ər /

noun

1. a person who makes or sells liquor or other goods illegally.

   A bootlegger named George Cassiday secretly supplied members of Congress with liquor during Prohibition.

   The sort of criminals of interest to the piracy commission are large-scale DVD bootleggers, not individual downloaders.

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Etymology

Origin of bootlegger

bootleg ( def. ) + -er ¹

Explanation

A bootlegger is someone who sells illegal goods. Today, bootleggers are most likely to sell pirated movies or music. This word comes from bootleg and, in particular, the trick of hiding a flask inside a boot. Bootleggers smuggle illegal things, and sometimes legal goods too, in order to avoid paying taxes. During Prohibition in the U.S., bootleggers supplied speakeasies with alcohol. There are a number of other, less common words inspired by bootlegger: meatlegger was coined during World War II's meat rationing and booklegger refers to someone who imports banned books.

Example Sentences

Abita, which has long made a non-alcoholic root beer with Louisiana cane sugar, unveiled Bayou Bootlegger at the end of 2015.

From Washington Post • Apr. 19, 2016

Turn left and he would be on Bootlegger Trail, a two-lane highway with a 70 mph speed limit shooting straight out into the country.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 8, 2012

He headed down Bootlegger Trail until he came to the dirt road that led to that trailer, which had three lawn mowers, several loose car tires and a boat in the front yard.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 8, 2012

Last autumn onetime Bootlegger William V. Dwyer decided to bolster up his feeble Americans, tail-enders in their group since 1929, by buying $35,000 worth of new players.

From Time Magazine Archive

When customs agents boarded Bootlegger Carl Rettich's yacht Prudence in Boston harbor three years ago. they searched in vain for contraband until one chanced to unscrew an electric light bulb.

From Time Magazine Archive