smuggle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to import or export (goods) secretly, in violation of the law, especially without payment of legal duty.
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to bring, take, put, etc., surreptitiously.
She smuggled the gun into the jail inside a cake.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to import or export (prohibited or dutiable goods) secretly
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(tr; often foll by into or out of) to bring or take secretly, as against the law or rules
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to conceal; hide
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of smuggle
1680–90; < Low German smuggeln; cognate with German schmuggeln
Explanation
If you import or export something without paying customs duties, you smuggle it. All kinds of things have been smuggled over the years: art, alcohol, drugs, animals, even tea! The verb smuggle has expanded to generally mean to bring something in or out in secret, especially if doing so breaks a rule or a law. Kids may smuggle candy into a movie theater so they don't have to pay the high prices at the concession stand. You may smuggle Christmas presents into the house so your kids don't see them. Illegal immigrants may be smuggled into the country for a fee, but if caught they can be deported.
Vocabulary lists containing smuggle
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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The Circuit
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Enrique's Journey
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sahand says he has sent a dozen to Iran since January and "we are actively looking for other ways to smuggle in more".
From BBC • May 2, 2026
Independent benchmarks confirm that Pangram outperforms every other detector tested and is robust against “humanizers,” or software designed to smuggle A.I. text past detectors.
From Slate • Apr. 17, 2026
Hiding vegetables in food is usually framed as a parenting tactic — a way to smuggle spinach past a suspicious toddler.
From Salon • Feb. 18, 2026
"The Weight" features Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke in a tale of a man forced to smuggle gold through the lethal wilderness of Depression-era rural Oregon.
From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026
There was a nonpolitical prisoner among us, nicknamed Joe My Baby, who later joined the ANC and proved invaluable in helping us smuggle material in and out of prison.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
