contraband of war

American  

noun

International Law.

1. goods that a neutral nation cannot supply to a belligerent nation except at the risk of seizure and confiscation.

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Etymology

Origin of contraband of war

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Historians have argued that Butler’s so-called contraband of war policy did not concern itself with the Black men’s humanity.

From New York Times • Nov. 16, 2020

Adjudication presupposes something to adjudicate; but if there was no contraband of war, on board the Trent, what was there to adjudicate?

From Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States by Semmes, Raphael

All officials will grow as reticent of doing you the smallest pleasure as if civility were a contraband of war.

From From the Oak to the Olive A Plain record of a Pleasant Journey by Howe, Julia Ward

I suspected that coal had been made a contraband of war, so I wasn’t a bit surprised when the St. Paul brought us to, with a shot, three and a half miles from shore.”

From The Boys of '98 by Otis, James

The neutral flag covers enemy’s goods, with the exception of contraband of war; 3.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10 "David, St" to "Demidov" by Various