smuggle

[smuhg-uh l]

See more synonyms for smuggle on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), smug·gled, smug·gling.

to import or export (goods) secretly, in violation of the law, especially without payment of legal duty.
to bring, take, put, etc., surreptitiously: She smuggled the gun into the jail inside a cake.

verb (used without object), smug·gled, smug·gling.

to import, export, or convey goods surreptitiously or in violation of the law.

Origin of smuggle

1680–90; < Low German smuggeln; cognate with German schmuggeln

Related formssmug·gler, nounan·ti·smug·gling, adjectiveun·smug·gled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for smuggle

hide, export, run, deal, moonshine, bootleg, push, pirate

Examples from the Web for smuggle

Contemporary Examples of smuggle

It was a high-tech attempt to smuggle in drugs and phones from the skies over a maximum-security facility.
What Was This Drone Doing Over a South Carolina Prison?
Melissa Leon
August 1, 2014
Egypt has blocked the tunnels Hamas formerly used to smuggle goods and weapons into Gaza—and to get its operatives out again.
Israelis and Arabs Shaken by the Aftershock of Teen Murders
Miranda Frum
July 7, 2014
Rep. Steve King raged that this would allow illegals to “smuggle themselves into the military.”
Even a Path to Citizenship for Military Volunteers Is Too Much for House Republicans
Ben Jacobs
April 7, 2014
His father was executed in 1942 by a German gendarme after attempting to smuggle a packet of saccharine into the Ghetto.
The Week in Death: Irving Milchberg, the Teenage Gunrunner of the Warsaw Ghetto
The Telegraph
March 1, 2014
To smuggle 500 kilograms of Mexican cocaine in frozen fish from Guyana to Italy would require as many as 5,000 fish.
Mafia’s Cocaine-in-a-Can Bust
Michael Daly
February 12, 2014

Historical Examples of smuggle

Could she not smuggle him up-stairs after her father had had his supper and retired to his bedroom?
The Night Riders
Ridgwell Cullum
"Yes, but I managed to smuggle my pocket contents into these clothes," said Ned.
Boy Scouts Mysterious Signal
G. Harvey Ralphson
He'll stay behind and carry out your vacation while we smuggle you away.
Security
Poul William Anderson
Hillard contrived to smuggle him on the private yacht of a friend.
The Lure of the Mask
Harold MacGrath
He smuggles the guns in in the Cigale, I smuggle them out in the Arrow.
Kilgorman
Talbot Baines Reed

British Dictionary definitions for smuggle

smuggle

verb

to import or export (prohibited or dutiable goods) secretly
(tr; often foll by into or out of) to bring or take secretly, as against the law or rules
(tr foll by away) to conceal; hide

Derived Formssmuggler, nounsmuggling, noun

Word Origin for smuggle

C17: from Low German smukkelen and Dutch smokkelen, perhaps from Old English smūgen to creep; related to Old Norse smjūga

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 smuggle

"import or export secretly and contrary to law," 1680s, of Low German or Dutch origin (see smuggler). Related: Smuggled; smuggling.