smuggle

American  

[smuhg-uhl] / ˈsmʌg əl /

verb (used with object)

smuggled, smuggling

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.

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verb (used without object)

smuggled, smuggling

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

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of smuggle

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

Example Sentences

Russian investigators have prevented a giant meteorite fragment being smuggled to Britain disguised as a garden ornament, the Federal Customs Service reported Thursday.

From Barron's

Hiemer smuggled part of his mother’s earthy remains to his garden, he said, and planted a mulberry tree.

From The Wall Street Journal

Last week, Chinese border police foiled an effort by two men attempting to smuggle 500 pounds of silver into the country from Hong Kong.

From The Wall Street Journal

Who’d gotten promotions and special privileges; how one of the littles got in trouble for trying to smuggle a chick into the dorm; a new meal that had entered the weekly rotation.

From Literature

Mixing American history with wild fabulation, and parental grief with Buddhist spirituality, the book’s weirdness and originality helped smuggle through its schmaltzy moralizing about selflessness and empathy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• export
• hide