smuggle

American  

[smuhg-uhl] / ˈsmʌg əl /

verb (used with object)

• smuggles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• smuggled,
  past participle,  past
• smuggling
  present participle

1. to import or export (goods) secretly, in violation of the law, especially without payment of legal duty.

2. to bring, take, put, etc., surreptitiously.

   She smuggled the gun into the jail inside a cake.

---

verb (used without object)

• smuggles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• smuggled,
  past participle,  past
• smuggling
  present participle

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

smuggle British  

/ ˈsmʌɡəl /

verb

1. to import or export (prohibited or dutiable goods) secretly

2. (tr; often foll by into or out of) to bring or take secretly, as against the law or rules

3. to conceal; hide

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• smuggler
  noun
• smuggling
  noun
• antismuggling
  adjective
• unsmuggled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• smuggling
  present
• smuggled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• smuggle
  simple
• smuggles
  simple
• have smuggled
  perfect
• has smuggled
  perfect
• am smuggling
  progressive
• are smuggling
  progressive
• is smuggling
  progressive
• have been smuggling
  perfect progressive
• has been smuggling
  perfect progressive

Past

• smuggled
  simple
• had smuggled
  perfect
• was smuggling
  progressive
• were smuggling
  progressive
• had been smuggling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will smuggle
  simple
• will have smuggled
  perfect
• will be smuggling
  progressive
• will have been smuggling
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

smuggle smuggles smuggled smuggling

Do not smuggle in assumptions from the past.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

“Like finding out that people were literally trying to smuggle giant vats of ranch,” said Stacy Stokes, the brand’s vice president of marketing and sales.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

For years, authorities say, Ghomi used an intermediary in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to smuggle U.S. tech into his home country of Iran, where he is a dual-citizen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026

Last month, Sri Lankan customs officials intercepted nine Chinese nationals attempting to smuggle used mobile phones and laptops in the hundreds, raising suspicion they were to be used in large-scale fraud operations.

From Barron's ● May 17, 2026

They begin haggling over a price like I've seen the women in jail do when someone has been able to smuggle in a thing from outside that everyone else wants.

From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman

Like with gold, the RSF smuggles gum arabic through border points it controls to neighboring countries, including Libya, Chad, Central African Republic and South Sudan.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

But Walsh smuggles in an entirely different claim beneath these factual details: that Parks was effectively a political actress participating in a manufactured hoax.

From Salon ● May 20, 2026

Treating occurrences as things that exist smuggles confusion into our language and concepts.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2025

Graham Norton once noted that "she uses humour like a Trojan horse, in which she smuggles in all sorts of difficult issues."

From BBC ● May 26, 2024

“He smuggles in bread sometimes and sells it—for a price. I’ll buy us a little something to eat. You’ve saved us, Yanek!”

From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz

As a young man, by his account, he smuggled diamonds, oversaw coconut plantations, dynamited fish, captained schooners and hunted killer cannibals in the New Guinea jungle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

The President was smuggled in a catering container, so serious is the threat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Wangunyu Njuguna, the author of the report, said that despite being illegal in Kenya, some toxic agrochemicals are smuggled through the border with Tanzania.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

A video also smuggled out of prison showed him singing a patriotic song in the prison yard ahead of execution.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

They had brought scraps from garbage pails and even tidbits from their own scanty plates smuggled past watchful mothers, and Mr. Hashbaz had remained sleek and fat.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

A years-long investigation by the US Justice Department traced and tracked the smuggling routes and resulted in thousands of looted artefacts being returned to Iraq.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Trafficked animals are often weakened by the process of smuggling, stressed by the loss of their habitat and family group, and vulnerable to unfamiliar diseases.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

Miller has directed officials to increase investigations into migrant smuggling networks, people familiar with his directives said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Robert McGuire secured a grand jury indictment against Abrego Garcia for human smuggling charges related to a 2022 traffic stop.

From Slate ● Aug. 23, 2026

Mulch recognized it as his arresting officer from the Renaissance Masters smuggling case.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

Related Words

• export
• hide